Naruto Rising Storm
by ruto-kun-nata-chan
Summary: At young age Naruto stumbles upon a truth which fuels his desire to be best hokage ever even more. The story follows cannon with some twist. A naruto a bit stronger than the manga. NARUTO-HAREM. I DO NOT OWN NARUTO. REWRITE AS 'NARUTO RISING'
1. Chapter 1

Yo guys …..

This is my fiction of NARUTO manga by how I really wish things were in terms of Naruto and some other characters. Now the story will follow the manga, except some changes in events of the plot. Well there are added some added plots for reasons you guys will come to know.

Naruto in the fiction is going to be stronger than he is in the manga (but not godlike), he will grow strong as the story takes its course.

My profile shows of my displeasure of certain events in the manga which I intend to reveal as my story progesses.

The fiction contains an O.C. which will come to your notice when I start with the manga plotline.

Thoughts : 'hi there'

Speech : "teme"

NOW LETS START THE FICTION…..

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1: _The dawn of a new beginning…._

'Why …why….WHY ME', running through the alleyway in one of Konohas slum areas were the thought of a six year old naruto.

He was bruised and battered with a bit of blood on him. Running for his life from about a 10 drunken civilians was not much for him; he had to save his life from such beatings from a very young age, but could never understand their reason for such a behavior towards him. Today he was lucky though, to have finally lost the ones on his trail without much of a hitch. Today though there were no shinobi in the midst of his pursuers.

Finally making certain that the pursuit had come to an end, he decided to head home. The place the old man with funny hat and white robe had given him to stay when he was thrown out of the orphanage. The caretakers had deemed him worthy to take care of himself; even though him being just five year old at that time. He was really scared at that time, but the old man had helped him a lot.

"Hm… now let's see which way to go… no it can't be I am LOSTTTTTTTTT", the blonde cried out in panic.

Looking around he found himself in the woods surrounding Konoha. He was now truly scared, he could find his way through the city, but the forest was a totally a different thing.

"Old man, HELP", he shouted once more in panic.

"Wait didn't the old man say, 'Naruto-kun, remember when afraid or lost take a deep breath and think of a solution to your situation", spoke Naruto trying to imitate the old man.

After a few of heavy and deep breathing, he was finally able to calm himself down. The blonde started to remember how he ended up here. Remembering the events in his mind, from the chase to his escape through alley ways and finally ending up here. He then tried remember the path he entered the forest.

"Let's see I came from here …. I guess ….. So it's this way … then, LET'S GO".

Taking a random path through the forest, naruto reached a clearing where he found a large flower patch, he looked around the flower patch, it looked old and not taken of care much but still seemed beautiful to his eyes. Seeing the patch he felt a warm feeling in his heart like the times the old man came to visit and play with him, but yet the feeling was more powerful than ever.

He decided to wander around the patch. Wandering he came across a two-storied house in the corner of the patch. For some reason naruto couldn't help himself and walked towards the house, every part of him; be it his body or soul wanted to touch the house. When his hand finally touched the door, black markings started to appear from the spot he touched and spread throughout the houses exterior. He panicked and with a lot of force he pushed himself back, the force also opened the door. Seeing the door open, curiosity took better of the blonde and he went inside the house to take a look.

"Anybody home …. I am lost on my way home, can someone in the house help me, and it's rather late in the night", called the blonde as he entered the house.

No sound was heard other than his echo. He decided to be brave and entered the house into the main hall. There was dust everywhere, it seemed to him no one has been here for a long time. Moving further he found he noticed a rather large painting on the wall in front of him. With the moonlight reflecting on it, he could see it to be a painting of two people.

One of them was of a man and another of a woman, both in their mid 20's. The man had golden-yellow blonde hair and ocean blue eyes just like him, the woman had red hair and green eyes, both looked so happy. For some reason he was drawn to them. The warm feeling in his heart, which had started since he found the patch and later the house, was elevated to such a degree that tears started flowing from his eyes down his face. Tears not like those when he received beatings, when people looked at him with those cold eyes or children's refused to play with him or he was sad, lonely or hurt. He felt happy, touching the portrait he muttered,

"O-kaa-san, O-tou-san."

The names of the two were written in the bottom of the frame.

_Namikaze Minato, Namikaze-Uzumaki Kushina._

'Her surname is same as mine so she is my kaa-san, dattebayyo…..so he must be my tou-san'.

**1 year later**;

In the past year, Naruto would visit the house from time to time. He kept it a secret from everyone, even from his ojii-san (he started referring to the hokage as such). In the meantime he started learning from the books and scrolls from the library of the house. He always wanted to be a shinobi, but had no one to help until he joined the academy. Knowing some of the books and scrolls were on ways to be a ninja, made him read them with all of his concentration.

One book written by one a certain Uzumaki Shiho caught his eyes the most; it was detailed about chakra in ways he could understand with ease. It gave information on chakra usage, to manipulate it into various shapes, also to manipulate it into the five elements. There were many scrolls and books various ninja arts, the likes of Tai, Gen, Nin, Ken, Fuin and many others.

Finally the day arrived when he was going to start the academy, the day he was going to officially train to be a ninja of Konoha. He was going to prove to all the people of Konoha that he was not someone that they should ignore, but a person they will recognize and respect. It was a new dawn in his life, he would train hard to be a great shinobi and of all to be the greatest hokage of all.

**UZUMAKI NARUTO.**

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_Read and review_


	2. Chapter 2

Yo; back again…

The story starts from here; I will also give account of Naruto's growth in the time skip from my first chapter. If you guys have some norms with his growth please feel free to tell me. I'll try and explain it. I'll also mention some events that need mentioning.

As far has the romance in my story goes, yes it will be a harem of 4-6 girls.

Thoughts : 'hi.'

Speech : "jerk."

Jutsus : **KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU **(when used), _**Mizu bunshin no jutsu **_(when mentioned.)

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2: _Academy and Graduation;_

NARUTO age 12

It has been 6 years since Naruto found the house. In these past 6 years Naruto's skills as a shinobi as grown a lot.

The academy had been boring in his view, the focus there seemed to be a lot on academic rather than practical skills of a shinobi. The academy thought the most basic form of taijutsu and some basic physical exercise. The weapons were limited to use of kunai and shrunken. But the worst was the jutsus thought; they were the _**henge, bunshin**_ and_** kawirami**_. Of which only _**kawirami**_ seemed useful, the others could only fool civilians since a ninja could easily see through such low level jutsus.

Naruto would rank in the top ten in the practical exams. When it was tests on academic knowledge he plain sucked, he just got a passing grade in it. Of the three academic jutsus he got two down easily, but the third; the _**bunshin **_he never got the hang of it. Even with Iuka-sensei's help he still couldn't do the jutsu.

Apart from academy knowledge, he leaned a lot from the library in his parent's house. The library consisted of scrolls on various taijutsu styles, to few genjutsus and ninjutsus and also books on fuinjutsus and styles on using various weapons. There were books on usage and importance of hand seals and how they worked in molding one's chakra and were easy to understand than the boring lectures of Iruka-sensei. There were books on usage of chakra and its manipulations, be it shape or elemental.

The books described a person to have an affinity to a certain element giving them better control and more power on the said elemental jutsus. The day Naruto learned of his elemental affinity; it was a rather pleasant surprise for him.

_Flashback..._

_Naruto had decided to visit the Hokages office in hope that the hokage should be able to help him to know what affinity he had. _

_It had only been half a month since the start of the academy, when the topic of ninjas using elemental jutsu was being debated. Iruka-sensei had asked the class if one of them knew of any jutsus, to come forth and demonstrate to the whole class. The class was taken to the academy grounds for the demonstrations._

_A few students demonstrated jutsu, which were mostly clan secret jutsus. But the Uchiha siblings demonstrated the use of fire jutsu. This was also a reason for Naruto to be at the Hokages office after school._

"_Naruto-kun what brings u here at this hour of the evening? The academy must be over, don't you have some homework", hokage asked the blonde._

"_Yes. But I wanted to ask you to help me in something, jiji", said Naruto with a sheepish grin and hand behind the back of his back (Naruto pose). _

"_And what would that be Naruto-kun?" asked the curious hokage._

_The blonde went on to tell how Iruka-sensei had talked about jutsus and how both the Uchiha's performed a fire jutsu. _

"_So I presume you to be a bit jealous", said the hokage after hearing Naruto's story._

"_NO, not at all ... OK a bit", assuming Naruto pose. _

"_So what is that you needed of me?" asked the hokage._

"_Yes that, I want to know what affinity I have, so it will be easy to learn when they teach us awesome jutsus"._

"_Affinity?" asked the hokage._

"_Yes, sensei told everyone has affinity towards a certain element and stuff, so I thought you could help me with that." _

_The hokage thought over it for a moment, 'they don't teach elemental jutsus at the academy, but still his enthusiasm over it…', "well now let's see here". The hokage walked towards nearby cupboard and withdrew a paper out of it. _

"_Now Naruto-kun, hold the paper in your fingers and send some chakra into the paper", said the hokage giving Naruto the paper._

_Naruto took the paper and did as instructed. He didn't understand how this paper was going to help him in knowing his elemental affinity. The moment Naruto send chakra into the paper, the paper split into many pieces and also was turned soggy and water dripped on the floor from it. Naruto was a bit confused by the sudden change in the paper. _

_The hokage was awed by the reaction the paper had to Naruto's chakra. 'Not only he has two elemental affinities, also they are really strong.'_

"_It seems you have an affinity towards two elements; which is rather rare. One being of wind and the other of water, Naruto-kun", said the hokage._

"_YATTA… that means I am awesome", proclaimed the blonde. _

_End flashback._

From that day Naruto had started training himself in the use of the jutsus of wind and water elemental jutsus. There were only a few jutsus in the library of the house.

(Academy; 1 month before graduation exams.)

Currently Naruto was being lectured by Iruka for his latest prank in front of the whole class. The class was enjoying every moment of it, from the blonde's prank to Iruka's lecture.

The class comprised of about 30 more students. Most of the class compromised of civilian children, for most of them learning ninja arts was just fun or something their parent's forced on them. To the boys it was to show others of them being superior and girls to find a knight in shining armor *****sasugay******.

***To Naruto 9 of them seemed capable to have potential of being great shinobis. They were;

Nara Shikamaru – the son of head of the Nara clan. The laziest person Naruto knew of, but also the smartest (just too lazy to try).

Akamichi Chouji – the son of head of Akamichi clan. Loves to eat but never call him fat, if you do, you die.

Inuzuka Kiba – the son of Inuzuka clan head. A loudmouth who loves to prove him being the alpha. Always has his nin-dog partner Akamaru.

Aburame Shino – the son of Aburame clan head. A very quite person and also great at analyzing things.

Uchiha Sasuke – the son Uchiha clan head. One of the two survivors of Uchiha clan massacre. The most arrogant and broody person.

Uchiha Hitomi – twin sister of Sasuke, daughter of Uchiha clan head. Second survivor of Uchiha clan massacre.

Hyuga Hinata – the daughter of Hyuga clan head. A sweet, kind and shy girl.

Yamanaka Ino – the daughter of Yamanaka clan head. A loudmouth, gossip queen and die hard Sasuke fan.

Haruno Sakura – a civilian. The smartest in class, gossip queen and also a die hard Sasuke fan.***

"Ok Naruto, go to your seat, we need to start revision", Iruka said.

Naruto went and sat in the empty seat in the back of the class. Iuka started going through various important topics, considering the graduation exams coming in a month.

"Now class, a month from now you will all be taking your graduation exams, so I want all of you to study hard and practice your jutsus well, they all will be in the exams. Now go home and do your best", as Iruka finished the academy bell rang indicating end of the class.

(Hokages office)

"Ah! Naruto-kun what brings u here?" asked the hokage to the blonde.

"You see jiji; I kind of need your help with my bunshin no jutsu. I know u said you are hokage and can't help me, you can't be bias and all that stuff. I really tried hard, I even asked Iruka-sensei and did all what he told me, but I still can't perform the jutsu. So I came to ask your help" said the blonde.

The hokage was in deep thought; he had known Naruto asking Iruka to help him with the said jutsu. Iuka had given all possible pointers he could. But the hokage knew for Naruto who had huge amount of chakra the still the jutsu was hard for someone like Naruto with huge chakra reserves, a jutsu like _**bunshin **_would be impossible unless he had perfect chakra control. Naruto's chakra control was the worst of all. Thinking for a few minutes, the hokage took out a blank paper and started writing on it. After finishing, he handed the scroll to Naruto. Reading the scroll Naruto turned really happy.

"I suppose that would solve the problem. You have about a month to learn the jutsu, Naruto-kun", said the hokage.

"THANK YOU JIJI, I'll work hard and definitely pass the test and then take your hat from you. You just wait and watch… DATTEBAYO."

(Academy, graduation day.)

Iruka and Mizuki stood in front of the class of hopeful graduates. All the students were nervous and were mentally preparing for the final test. The written, weapons and taijutsu test had already finished. Only ninjutsu part of the exam was remaining.

"Now students, the written and taijutsu and weapons test are over, let's get started with the ninjutsu test. You all have to perform the 3 basic jutsus to pass and get your hitai-te. When I call your names, come in the room and your tests will be conducted" said Iruka and together with Mizuki entered the adjacent room.

One by one students were called upon. They would enter the room where the teachers were conducting the exams. So far no student had failed, as all came out wearing konoha hitai-te.

"UZUMAKI NARUTO", was called upon by Iruka.

"Naruto baka why try, you can't do the bunshin, you know you are going to fail", Sakura shouted at Naruto trying to get noticed by Sasuke.

"Troublesome, Naruto I don't like her comment but you know you can't perform the bunshin, so what are u going to do?" Shikamaru asked Naruto.

"Don't worry Shikamaru; I got it all worked out. I am going to ace the test. DATTEBAYO."

'Naruto-kun looks confident', thought Hinata. "Good luck, Na-Naruto-kun", stuttered Hinata in a low voice, as Naruto passed by her seat.

"Thanks Hinata", called out Naruto making the Hyuga heiress blush.

Shino, Kiba, Chouji, Ino also wished the blonde good luck. Sasuke and Hitomi showed no interest, though Hitomi knew the blonde to be able to pullout a surprise. The rest of the class had the same view as Sakura.

(Examination room.)

Iruka had asked Naruto to perform first the kawirami and then henge. Naruto performed the said jutsus with ease. First using henge to be a look-alike the sandaime hokage. He then used kawirami to switch places with a chair in the room.

"Now Naruto, perform the bunshin no jutsu and you will be a shinobi of konoha", said Iruka, but he knew even after all the help he had given the blonde he still could not perform the jutsu.

"Hey Iruka-sensei can I do another bunshin", Iruka was brought out of his thought when the blonde piped up the question.

'Another bunshin', were the thoughts of both Iruka and Mizuki.

"Sure", Iruka said.

Naruto showing his trademark grin did some handseals and called, "_**Mizu bunshin no jutsu**_". 3 water clones materialized out of the air in the room. Both examiners were dumbfounded but hid their surprise, Iruka was very happy for the blonde while Mizuki was seething with anger thinking his plan was now not in play.

"Very good Naruto you pass, you can take the hitai-te. As of now you are a shinobi of konoha", Iruka said with a smile handing Naruto the hitai-te.

Naruto ran out of the room after giving Iruka a hug. The class was stunned to see Naruto with a hitai-te. Shikamaru, Shino and Chouji, Ino congratulated Naruto while Kiba shouted of his passing without knowing the bunshin. Hinata was very happy for Naruto knowing his hard work had gotten him through. Sasuke, Sakura and the others in the class were thinking along the lines at how Naruto did pass the exam.

"Uzumaki we all know u can't perform the bunshin, how did you pass?" Hitomi asked the question that was on every students mind.

"Oh! I used a jutsu better than the bunshin to pass the exam, dattebayo", said Naruto pumping his fist in the air.

After all students were given the test, Iruka and Mizuki congratulated all for passing and told to assemble in the academy in 3 days time for their team arrangement.

Outside it was a chaos with students being greeted by their parents for passing the exam. Naruto felt a bit sad, but he knew that he was going to go share his awesome passing tale with his parents, so he left in the direction of his parent's house. Whenever he was sad, happy, lonely the place in the house in front of the big frame with his parent's pictures would always be his solitude.

He was happy today, he was finally a ninja and would start his journey to surpass the Hokages and of all his idol-his father the yondaime. It was simple knowing his father was the

Yondaime, once they started the history lessons about the Hokages and their exploits and achievements. It was rather surprising for him still not knowing why most of village population hated him. They praised his father no they worshipped, but they hated him with same intensity.

He had a speculation on why they hated him…

"Ah Naruto, I wanted to talk to about the test", Naruto was brought out of his daydreaming by Mizuki calling him.

"What about it sensei?" asked Naruto turning to talk with Mizuki.

"It so happens Naruto, you are supposed to give a supplementary test", said Mizuki.

"AH! WHAT FOR SENSEI?" Naruto shouted.

"Now Naruto don't shout please, it's just that u didn't use the bunshin no jutsu but another jutsu to pass", said Mizuki.

"But I never head something like this before…"

"Now Naruto, it because such circumstances have hardly shown in academy history, it has only happened about 4 times before", said Mizuki.

"OH!", but Naruto knew something was off about this test.

Jiji had told him when he gave him the jutsu that it will be enough to replace the bunshin no jutsu and pass the test. Naruto came to a conclusion that Mizuki was up to something but he decided to go on with Mizuki's idea. Mizuki told him about the supplementary test (U guys should know it by now).

(Hokages building, unknown room, night time.)

"Ah! Naruto-kun what brings u here at such a time in my office and that scroll?" the hokage asked Naruto.

"Oh this..." and so Naruto went onto tell the entire event after the graduation with Mizuki and his suspicion about Mizuki being up to something and his plan.

The hokage thought on it for a moment and then spoke, "So u intend to see what he is up to?"

"Hai, I took the scroll and was going to leave a message for you if I couldn't find you", said Naruto.

The hokage thought on it a bit, "tiger", called out. An ANBU with a tiger mask came out of the shadows.

"As you heard everything, we are following the plan. You ae to shadow Naruto-kun and see what Mizuki wants with the forbidden scroll", commanded the hokage.

"Hai hokage-sama", was the ANBU's reply.

"Thanks jiji, now only one thing left to do to make it look real". The hokage was a bit confused when he heard Naruto call out _**Orike no jutsu**_. In front of the old hokage stood a naked blonde in a seductive pose, seeing it the hokage flew back and fell unconscious with blood loss.

(Unknown clearing forest area about 3 hours late)

The word of Naruto steeling the forbidden scroll had spread through ninjas of chunin and higher ranks, there was a wide search going on for him. Iruka was one of them, he could not understand why Naruto would steal the scroll even has a prank. Though Naruto was not top of the class, the blonde would easily be one of the best in the class, well if there were no written exams. Iruka knew the blonde was stronger than he appeared. It was not like the blonde trying to deceive others, it was just he never liked to show his strength to belittle others or show his superiority (that's sasugay traits by the way.)

Finally, searching for about 2 to 3 hours, he found Naruto. The blonde was in the forests of konoha. From the looks of the blonde, Iuka realized the boy must be working hard to do something. But still he was angry with the blonde.

"Naruto what the heck, why did u take the scroll?" he asked the blonde, composing himself.

Naruto didn't want to hide it from Iruka but the ANBU had said to play along if someone is to find him before Mizuki does. So Naruto went on with the plan.

"What are you talking about sensei; this is supplementary test I have to take because I used a different bunshin", said Naruto making a 'you know it' face.

Iruka was confused at the blondes words so he asked, "who told u so?"

"Mizuki-sensei" said the blonde.

Iruka couldn't understand why Mizuki would say something like this and to make someone steal the forbidden scroll. Before he could put his thoughts together, Iruka found shurikens coming in Naruto's direction. Iruka put forth himself in way of harm of the projectiles getting hit by them.

Mizuki showed up in the nearby tree and said, "my Iruka, you were able to find the brat before me, what a shame. But before that, I should applaud you Naruto for actually stealing the scroll."

"WHY MIZUKI?" asked Iruka.

"Well simple Iruka, if the brat was to be caught stealing the scroll he would be rightfully punished for all his sins. But even if he was too able to steal the scroll I would take it from him after killing him. The village would be rid of the demon and I would get I want. By handing the scroll to Orochimaru and in return gaining power from him. But you found him before me and even took the shurikens that were meant to kill him, even though he was the one who killed your parents", said Mizuki as it was a presentation of a fact.

Naruto couldn't take it anymore of the blame, he yelled, "WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE TO YOU, I NEVER DID ANYTHING BAD..." he was interrupted by loud laughing sound of Mizuki,

"Oh how about I tell it to you demon. The secret that everyone knows and hates you for …." Spoke Mizuki.

"NO DON'T MIZUKI", Iruka shouted him to stop.

At that very moment the ANBU tiger came out of hiding and silenced Mizuki by knocking him unconscious, "Naruto-san, Iruka-san please come with me to the Hokages office."

(Hokages office.)

The ANBU tiger along with Iruka and Naruto were now present in front of the hokage. The sandaime had seen all of the events unfold through his crystal ball. He told Iruka of how Naruto came to talk to him before stealing the scroll and confided in him about the suspicions. Iruka was very happy and proud hearing all of what the hokage said, knowing the blonde had seen the bluff and told the hokage about it.

The search was called and Mizuki's treachery was announced to all. Tiger left after his report, the hokage looked at Naruto. The blonde looked a bit down and he knew why. He wondered what would had happened if Mizuki had told the blonde the secret. Or as a matter of fact, if someone who hated Naruto told it to him. It seemed he had to finally reveal the secret to the blonde.

"So I see you have a lot of questions, Naruto-kun", said the hokage.

"What did Mizuki-sen… teme was going to say?" inquired the blonde.

"Hokage-sama…" called out Iruka, thinking he was not going to tell the blonde about it.

"Now Iruka, Naruto-kun does deserve the truth. For I believe Naruto-kun can handle the truth", said the hokage, to which Iruka could only nod in agreement.

The sandaime went on told Naruto about kyuubi sealed in him by the yondaime and how he wished for naruto to be as a hero. He explained to naruto it was the hatred and loss that the kyuubi attack caused was the reason why people hated Naruto; they believed him to be the kyuubi's reincarnation. He also explained to Naruto that he was not the fox but the jail and he keeps konoha safe everyday. Iruka told Naruto about his parents death, how he hated him first and then when he got to know him he knew he was not the fox but a great child and now a proud shinobi of leaf. Iruka even went to exchange his hitai-te with Naruto.

Naruto contemplated his thoughts; he was no fox but its jailor. He understood the villagers didn't hate him but hated the fox. He will be their protector and show them he is not the fox. He will gain the respect of the villagers through his work as a shinobi. But of all the thoughts, what mattered to him was it was the yondaime-his father that sealed the fox in him. He had trusted him with the duty of keeping konoha safe. He would keep the fox sealed away until he lives and make his father proud.

END CHAPTER…

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To note…

Now people I excluded the part of naruto painting the hokage monument and his punishment. Do not think the event didn't take place; it does and goes as in the manga. Naruto loves pranks, so do I. the part in which Iruka talks with hokage also did happen. I was just feeling lazy to write the events.


	3. Chapter 3

Hi readers, Back again with the third chapter…

Now let's get to you some facts before I proceed with the story;

Naruto started the academy with students his age group.

Naruto never failed the exams, this was his first try.

Naruto has no romantic feelings for Sakura.

Naruto and Sasuke rivalry does exist. Naruto wants to remove Sasuke's superiority complex and Sasuke thinks along the lines of how a no clan boy to be this good.

Naruto still loves to prank people.

Naruto is oblivious to Hinata's feelings.

Now the story has a Naruto harem. The limit of girls in the harem is about 4 to 6. I already have 3 girls in the harem list, rest options will be on a poll. So do vote.

I haven't decided to rewrite the anime spoilers, but if I do, only my favorites will be included.

Thoughts : 'hi.'

Speech : "jerk."

Jutsus : **KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU **(when used), _**Mizu bunshin no jutsu **_(when mentioned.)

Inner-Sakura : _'I am a jerk.'_

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3:_ Training, Growth, Team selection. _

(Day 1 – after graduation exams.)

It is about 5 in the morning; currently Naruto was heavily snoring on his bed. There could be seen scrolls, books, ramen cups and some dirty clothes scattered through the room. Suddenly an earsplitting sound echoed through the room. The sound made the blonde jumped out of his bed.

"Damn the clock, now why in the world did I set it at 5 in the morning?" inquired the blonde to him self looking at the time and then stopping the clock.

The events of last night played through his mind. Mizuki trying to trick him and even as far as going to kill him for his greed for power. The sandaime hokage telling him about the reason of why all people seemed to hate him. Iruka-sensei accepting him and even exchanging their hitai-te.

The blonde had visited his parent's house after all was settled down.

_Flashback…_

_Naruto was standing in front of his parent's portrait. The revelation of him being the container of the kyuubi no kitsune was far for him to digest. He somehow had kept his emotions in check in front of the hokage. _

_But standing in front of the frame, a place where he felt connected to his parents tears streamed down his eyes. The hokage had told him the yondaime trusted him that he would keep the kyuubi at bay. But standing here he wanted to know was it that his father trusted him or he had no other option. _

_But now looking onto the frame he could feel it, his father and mother not only loved him, but trusted him with the burden, no not a burden but a responsibility._

_End flashback…_

He had last night promised himself to work even harder than before to achieve his dreams. And also to make his parents, the sandaime and Iruka proud of him.

Naruto quickly got out of his bed, took a bath, had some ramen for breakfast and got dressed and decided to head towards the clearing in the forest where he usually trains. His training attire consisted of a white tee-shirt with a red Uzumaki spiral on the backside. He wore black trousers, with a utility belt for ninja weapons (ninjas were protection stuff like chain mail and stuff).

Naruto hurried towards his training spot. On the way he came across a training ground which had a water steam running though it. He needed a water boy to train on one of his jutsu.

"Well now that I am a ninja, I can use the training grounds too…" said Naruto to himself.

Naruto started with the physical exercises like sit ups, crunches, jumps, running laps and various forms of physical exercise. His exercise revolved around gaining more speed and also a good amount of physical power. It went on for 2 hours.

Currently he was going through katas of his modified form of academic taijutsu. The forms were more focused on attack and counterattack, without giving up the defense. Every block or was followed by finding a way to attack. At the time a girl entered the ground, she was surprised to see someone train in the ground.

"Hey there", she called out.

"Hi there", called Naruto stopping his training and answering the newcomer. It was a girl who seemed a year older than him (no descriptions of what someone wears. It's the same thing they wear in the manga.)

"The ground looked empty so decided to train a bit. You to train here …" said Naruto.

"The names Tenten, and don't worry about using the ground", said Tenten.

"I am Uzumaki Naruto, just graduated from the academy", said Naruto.

The two had a small talk about how missions go for the rookie gennins. The two then went onto their specific training. About 10 Tenten went on to join with her team for team training and missions. Naruto continued his training since he had the whole ay to himself, only taking breaks to visit Ichiraku ramen store to quench his hunger.

It was mid day; currently Naruto was working on perfecting the jutsu _**Suiton-Ja no kuchi**_. It was the strongest offensive water ninjutsu the scrolls at his parent's house had. The scrolls only had about 4 to 8 jutsus for each element. He had so far learned all the wind and water ninjutsu there were in the scrolls. The jutsu were a mix of supplementary, defensive and offensive.

Last night one more jutsu was added to his arsenal, _**kage bunshin no jutsu**_. To simply say it was the most awesome jutsu ever created. It created solid copies of the user and could easily fool anyone. The clone could all forms of ninja arts that the user knew of. When destroyed the memory of the clones return to the original. This had many uses, it could be used for espionage or information gathering, and it could also help in training. But best of all, a lot of experiments could be done with the jutsu to create new jutsus. He already had some ideas and thought of sharing it with the hokage.

(Day 2 – after graduation exams.)

Currently Naruto was in the hokage's office submitting his ninja registration form. Naruto had put on his best ninja attire to look cool in the profile photo. He was currently wearing black shinobi sandals, black cargo pants with a ninja-belt strapped to it. The upper body consisted of a dark blue tee-shirt with orange jacket over it (an open jacket revealing the blue tee-shirt). The back of the jacket had the Uzumaki spiral in dark red color.

"Well everything in the form looks appropriate", said the hokage examining the registration form.

"It could have looked more awesome if I had applied some face paint", quietly muttered the blonde, but the hokage caught on to the words.

"Face paint?" said a surprised hokage.

"Yes, you know to look more badass; but couldn't get paint to match my outfit", said the blonde with a dejected look.

"Oh! I see", exclaimed the hokage with a big sweat drop.

"Hey jiji I wanted to talk about the _**kage bunshin no jutsu**_", said the blonde with a now curious face.

It always amazed the hokage of how the blonde could jump from one mood to another. The hokage was interested to hear what the blonde was up to now, "What about the jutsu?"

"I was thinking of experimenting with the jutsu. Like say making shadow clones of projectiles like kunai, shuriken. Or using the applications of exploding tags to create something like a clone that could explode. Or something like elemental _**kage bunshins**_", said the blonde with a very happy thought of having new jutsus.

The hokage was awed at the blondes assumptions at what could he do with the jutsu. 'To think he came up with the idea of the existing jutsus by himself. To come with the idea of exploding clones from exploding tags, ingenious. Seems like he has a knack for fuinjutsus just like his parents and ancestors.'

"What do you mean by elemental _**kage bunshins**_, Naruto-kun?" asked the hokage, though he knew the blonde was on the right track.

"OH THAT! Well when a _**kage bunshin**_ is hit, it poofs out of existence. Say if it were made out of elemental chakra like wind or lightning, when hit it would turn into the element cut the enemy with wind chakra or zap them with the lightning chakra", explained the blonde.

'Ingenious', thought the hokage. "Well there exists such jutsu as you mentioned", said the hokage.

"So can I have those jutsu?" asked the blonde in such enthusiasm that his yes looked like stars at the prospect of getting new jutsus.

The hokage thought over it for a few minutes. Finally the hokage spoke, "well I will give you the _**shuriken kage**_,_** bunshin kunai kage bunshin**_ and _**bunshin daibakuha **_jutsus…"

"COOL", shouted the blonde in utter joy and sped forward and hugged the hokage.

The hokage could see the happiness in the blonde's eyes but he continued further, "but Naruto-kun you have to promise me you won't experiment on the elemental ones. I'll give those jutsus to you when you are strong enough to learn them."

Naruto looked a bit dejected but quickly brightened up, "Ok. I promise and you know I never go back on my promise, dattebayo."

Naruto went back to his seat and the hokage started going over some formalities. At that time Konohamaru decided to attack the hokage (the entire part goes as per the manga, I you have not read the manga and are reading this you are a jackass.)

(Day 3 – team selection day.)

Naruto had arrived at the academy pretty early. He went and occupied a seat near a window in the class. The blonde was daydreaming of competing in a ramen eating contest as the class started to fill with students. As he came out of 'Oh! SO AWESOME REAM', he noticed the seat next to him was occupied by Uchiha Hitomi and next to her sat her brother Sasuke.

There was only one thought going through the blonde's mind, 'OH! NO. IF…'

As on cue his thoughts were interrupted by a loud cat fight at the door of the class. The two fighters in question were Sakura and Ino. They quickly came up to the seat he was sitting on.

"Naruto-baka, get up from the seat. I am going to seat next to Sasuke-kun", screeched Sakura.

"Sakura I came here before the teme, so why should I move?" asked naruto.

"Naruto no baka, how could you ask Sasuke-kun…"said Sakura fuming with rage but was interrupted by Ino.

"Shut it forehead, oi Naruto mind giving me the seat", said Ino (yes Ino is nicer to Naruto.)

"Sure", said Naruto and started to get up.

"What? How could you give Ino-pig your seat?" shouted Sakura.

"Simple; she asked, you ordered", said naruto to Sakura.

The class was enjoying every bit of what was taking place. Hinata was angry of how Sakura was being rude to Naruto, but kept quite. Hitomi was inwardly laughing, but kept on reading the book in front of her. Chouji kept eating his chips; Shikamaru thought it was too troublesome. Shino agreed with Naruto's reasoning but kept a stoic mask on outside. Kiba and Akamaru were trying to hide their laughter. Sasuke was brooding and for a second, hoped it didn't cause him problem, but quickly went back to brooding. Ino was sporting a large grin and Sakura was seething with rage.

"Oi, Hitomi please can you lift the book of the desk", said the blonde.

Hitomi looked up from the book and saw the blonde sitting on the desk. She took her book of the desk, knowing full well Sasuke was not going to move much. At that very moment a punch flew past Naruto's head, he was able to avoid the punch. But the blonde lost his balance because of his awkward position on the bench. He closed his eyes to lessen the pain of the fall.

Naruto's P.O.V.

The pain never came. He heard the whole class gasped as if stunned by something. He tried to understand why he couldn't feel the pain from the fall. He felt that his hand had grabbed onto something soft. But not only his hands but his lips had touched something soft and warm and his tongue had invaded something slimy. He opened his eyes to see to see that his lips were on Hitomi's lips, his tongue had invade her mouth, to put it simply he was locked in a deep kiss with Hitomi. As if that wasn't enough his hands were placed on Hitomi's breast.

'Oh I am so in trouble, she is going to beat me like hell… no I am sure she is going to kill me'

Hitomi's P.O.V.

Hitomi was also in her own thoughts. She was having a kiss, no not just a kiss but was having a deep kiss with Uzumaki. His lips felt a bit nice on her lips… she stopped such thoughts quickly.

His tongue had gained access in her mouth; she felt their tongues touch each other. But if that wasn't enough his hands were placed on her breasts. She knew it wasn't his fault, but how could she let this go by.

Sasuke's P.O.V.

He was busy brooding, when he heard the entire room gasped. When he looked up to see the reason of all the gasps, he was dumfounded at the scene he just saw. The dobe Naruto was kissing his sister. Only one thought rang through he is mind, 'if Hitomi doesn't kill you, I will surely kill you DOBE.'

Hinata's P.O.V.

Hinata was all red in the face; she couldn't understand was she angry or rather embarrassed. She knew it wasn't Naruto-kun nor Hitomi's fault, the one to blame was Sakura. But seeing Naruto-kun kissing another girl was making Hinata furious and also embarrassed.

'Naruto-kun.'

Normal P.O.V.

'Troublesome', thought Shikamaru seeing what had happened. Chouji had his mouth wide open and the bag of chips had fallen to the ground. Shino had his eyebrows raised over the glasses.

Kiba was first dumbstruck at first, but when he came out of his stupor, he muttered, "lucky bastard", getting a positive bark from Akamaru (Hitomi is also famous and good looking). Ino had a face as she had seen something awesome. Sakura was dumbstruck; after all it was her fault.

Naruto could clearly see the shock in the eyes of Hitomi and vice versa. He slowly was pulling out of the kiss, but suddenly his male nature took over. Unknowingly his hands gave a gentle squeeze to Hitomi's breasts. He could easily see the shocked expression turning to pure rage.

'I am so dead', thought Naruto.

When Hitomi was going to let it go, she felt Naruto's hand squeeze her. She was now seething with rage. Only one thought rang though he mind, 'you are so dead, UZUMAKI.'

After 15 minutes we find Naruto battered and bruised and Hitomi was standing over him with her fist clenched in a punch. After that she went and took her seat. Naruto somehow got himself in a seat in back of the room.

5 minutes later Iruka entered the classroom. All of the graduates were present to be selected in their team. His eyes searched for Naruto, he found the blonde in back of the class and looked as if he was badly beaten.

"Now someone mind telling me as to what happened to Naruto?" inquired Iruka.

"Nothing happened Iruka-sensei", said Hitomi sporting a small tinge of pink on her cheeks.

"RIGHT Uzumaki?" Hitomi asked looking at the blonde with a menacing glare.

"Yes nothing happened… got my self hurt while training", said Naruto.

Iruka let it go by. He took a roll call of all graduates to see if all were present. After knowing all to be present, Iruka gave a long speech about the life a shinobi and how the village expected great things from all of them. He then started announcing the teams that were formed and names of the jonin sensei of each team (no one knows who are members of team 1 to team 6 and no one cares).

"Now team 7 consists of Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Hitomi, Uchiha Sasuke…" said Iruka when he heard a loud scream of joy and a bang on the table.

"True love wins. Take that Ino-pig", screeched Sakura.

"Now let me continue Sakura. As I was saying team 7 consists of Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Hitomi, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto, your jonin sensei will be Hatake Kakashi", said Iruka.

"Iruka-sensei isn't a team made up of 3 genins and 1 jonin?" asked Hitomi, which was the thought going through most of the students mind.

"You see; the class compromises of 31 graduates, either one student was to wait for next year's batch or a spot in one of the existing teams. Hokage-sama thought it unfair to the student who wouldn't be selected after all his hard wok. That is you odd team was formed", explained Iruka.

"I get what you said Iruka-sensei and I don't mind being part of a 5 man squad. But why it had to be team 7", said blonde.

"What do you mean Naruto?" asked Iruka.

"I don't have a problem of being on a team with Hitomi and Sakura, but I know one thing for sure Sakura hates me. As for Sasuke-teme, I know he has a pole stuck in his back but still he doesn't get along with anyone other than his sister, but we two get along the worst", said the blonde making a face saying 'you-know-it'.

When the whole class heard this, the class had various reactions. The boys were laughing hard, but of all Kiba was rolling on the floor with laughter. The girls were seething in rage at what Naruto said about their precious Sasuke-kun.

The only girls not angry were Hinata and Hitomi. Hinata was tying to hold back her laughter. For Hitomi, she couldn't understand either to laugh or be angry at the blondes comment. She knew what he said was right; she was trying to improve her brothers attitude for long now. But also he was in a way insulting her bother.

On the other hand Sasuke was furious about the comment on his attitude. He agreed with the blonde that they both never got together on anything. Also the more members on the team, the more hindrance for him to achieve his goals.

"I wasn't the one who made the teams, it was hokage-sama. Now continuing forward team 8 consist …" said Iruka (they are the same team formations so no use to write.)

(3 hours later.)

It had been 3 hours since lunch break after team announcements. Currently there were 4 members of team 7 in the classroom. The other teams were picked up by their respective jonins and had left, even Iruka had left. Sasuke was busy brooding. Hitomi was sitting next to him and reading some novel. Sakura had already given up on her attempt to ask Sasuke for a date (for now) and was busy looking at her self in her mirror. Naruto was reading a book on sealing arts.

"WHATS UP WITH OUR JONIN-SENSEI", shouted the blonde startling the other occupants of the room.

"Dobe have some patience", said Sasuke.

"PATIENCE teme, I had it for the past three hour", said Naruto. Naruto went up to the door and unsealed some stuffs from a scroll.

"What are you doing Naruto-baka?" asked Sakura.

"Simple I am going to show what happens to those who are late. He is going to be pranked by the great Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo."

"He is a jonin dobe, he won't f all for your stupid pranks", said Sasuke.

"Yes I know, but still worth a try", said Naruto.

"I am helping too, he needs to be punished for being late", said Hitomi shocking others.

(30 minutes later.)

Hatake Kakashi entered the class room, opening the door. The moment he opened the door opened, many things happened at once. First he was drenched in some sticky liquid, then feathers came out of no where and stuck to him and there was an explosion above his head spraying pink colored dust.

After everything had finished, Naruto was rolling on the floor laughing hard along with saying something like pink birdie. Hitomi was also laughing at the state of whoever the guy was. Sasuke was not interested. Sakura was confused of what to do.

"Are you Hatake Kakashi, our jonin sensei?" asked Naruto.

"Yes that I am, and you must be team 7", said Kakashi.

The four nodded to him. Hitomi and Naruto were happy that they got the right guy. 'Serves him right', were the thoughts of the both of them.

'Is he even a jonin…' was Sasuke thinking after seeing the said man fall for such a stupid prank.

"Sorry sensei, I told Naruto-baka to stop", apologized Sakura to Kakashi, but inner Sakura was shouting, _'CHA! That's what you deserve to be late.'_

"My first impression of all of you… I hate you guys. Now meet me on the roof in 10 minutes", said Kakashi in a bored expression. The 4 face faulted at his words and attitude.

(10 minutes later, on the roof top.)

Kakashi was sitting by the railing; the genins were sitting in front of him. Kakashi was completely clean as nothing had happened.

"Now, we should start with the introductions", said Kakashi.

"What do you mean by introductions, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura.

'Did she just ask that', were the thoughts of all other 4.

"Well you know your likes, dislike, hobbies and dreams and stuff like that", said Kakashi.

"Why don't you start first Kakashi-sensei", said Hitomi.

"Ok." (I am not writing the introductions of Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke, they go as in the manga.)

Hitomi was a bit saddened by Sasuke's introduction; he was determined to avenge the clan. She couldn't say anything against him on the matter; she too hated her brother for everything he did that night. She only knew it was Itachi her brother who killed all of the clan even their parents. Sasuke was the one who he had seen Itachi's act when he was put under the _**Tsukuyomi**_ genjutsus.

'So teme wishes to kill his brother…' thought Naruto.

Kakashi pointed at Hitomi to introduce her self.

Hitomi came out of her thoughts and spoke, "I am Uchiha Hitomi. I love spending time with my brother, reading novels and training. I dislike perverts, people who don't take their ninja life seriously; especially girls who give kunoichis a bad reputation. My hobby is reading. My dream is to become a great kunoichi making the Uchiha clan and my parents proud of me and also to one day meet him…"

Sasuke nodded in agreement and Sakura was thinking along the lines as how cool both the Uchiha siblings were.

'She is not focused on revenge as her bother', thought Naruto. Kakashi pointed at Naruto to continue.

"I am Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen, especially the ramen at Ichiraku ramen stand and training. I dislike the 3 minutes it takes for ramen to be ready…"said Naruto.

'Does he always think about ramen", were the thoughts of other 4.

"And my dream is TO BE THE GREATEST HOKAGE, SURPASSING EVEN THE YONDDAIME", shouted the blonde standing up and pointing towards the hokage monument.

'A fools dream Uzumaki, but if I know something about you it is that you always surprise others', thought Hitomi.

"Hn…" grunted Sasuke.

'Naruto', thought Sakura. _'Cha! He is tying to act cool to make Sasuke-kun look bad'_, said inner-Sakura. 'Yes that's how it is.'

"Very good and your hobbies", asked Kakashi.

"Eating new types of ramen, pranks", said the blonde.

'So I got a fan girl, an avenger, someone not sure of what she exactly wants with her past and a ramen addict', thought Kakashi.

"Now I would like to tell you that none of you are genin yet", said Kakashi.

"What do you mean sensei?" asked Hitomi.

"Yes we already passed the test", said Sakura.

"Well the academy tests were to determine who were capable of being genins. Tomorrow I will give you a survival training test to see are you genin material or not. Remember well out of all the teams, your chances of passing are only 33%", said Kakashi at which the genins paled. Kakashi continued, "Oh! And I suggest you don't eat before coming to the test or you might throw up. Meet you at 0700 hours at training ground 7."

Kakashi left by use of _**sunshin no jutsu**_. The four genins left for their homes thinking of passing the tests for personal reasons.

END CHAPTER.

* * *

To note;

Hitomi is a carbon copy of her mother, a mini Mikoto. Her hair is long, reaching up to stomach area. She wears a bluish-gray top (no it is does not hug her skin), it has the Uchiha symbol on the back. The lower boy consists of black tights and above a dusty red colored skirt.


	4. Chapter 4

Hi readers, back with another chapter.

Thoughts : 'hi.'

Speech : "jerk."

Jutsus : **KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU **(when used), _**Mizu bunshin no jutsu **_(when mentioned.)

Inner-Sakura : _'I am a jerk.'_

4: _Bell test and the team_.

It was around 7 in the morning when Naruto reached to training ground 7. The Uchiha siblings were already present at the ground. Naruto greeted the two, to which was returned by Hitomi and Sasuke grunted. Naruto took a seat by a nearby tree. Sakura arrived about 15 minutes later and started to rant out apologies to everyone for her being late.

"Sakura stop apologizing, Kakashi-sensei hasn't arrived yet", said Naruto.

"Yes Sakura so you are not late", assured Hitomi to the Sakura. "By the way does anyone know anything about our sensei, it could help in whatever tests he give us."

"Well, I found a little information about him", said the blonde piping the interests of his other team mates.

"Care to share with us, dobe", said Sasuke.

"Indeed teme", earning a growl from Sasuke and a glare from Sakura.

"Kakashi-sensei is said to be one of the strongest of the current jonins. He is famed as copy-ninja Kakashi and has said to have copied over a thousand jutsus", said Naruto.

The other three were shocked to know that their sensei, whom they thought as a lazyass was one of the strongest jonin of Konoha. If what the blonde said was indeed true, then they couldn't imagine the test they would be taking now.

"Naruto, how do you know so much about sensei?" asked Sakura.

"Don't you remember, information is one of keys to shinobi success. What do you don't understand?" said naruto has it was a matter of fact.

"You know what she meant Uzumaki. Where did you find all the information?" asked Hitomi.

"Well you see, that's my little secret… Hi-to-mi-chan", said the blonde enraging the Uchiha.

(3 hours later.)

Currently the members of team 7 were busy doing their own stuffs. Sakura had given up on further asking Sasuke on a date after the test, after his 15th denial. She was currently lying by a nearby tree. Sasuke and Hitomi were talking with each other. The 4th member of the team, Naruto was currently sitting on a nearby rock with his eyes closed.

The team had a small discussion about the possible upcoming test after hearing about their sensei from Naruto. At first Sasuke didn't want to participate in the discussion, saying he could take care of himself. After his sister forced him to join the conversation, they went through a few plans to pass the test.

Currently Naruto was sitting on a rock and was trying to feel the wind around him. It was one of the exercises for fine tuning ones control over his element. Seeing that there were not many jutsus to learn in the scrolls at his parent's house, he had decided to start with elemental manipulation. Reading the training required to complete elemental manipulation seemed rather easy for Naruto. But as he stated on elemental manipulation training, he understood why it was considered a jonin level skill. It had taken him about 3 months to get a nice clean cut on a leaf and about 4 months to remove water from a leaf; and those were only the basic exercises in the elemental manipulation training. It was only thanks to his huge chakra reserves and amazing healing abilities, he was able to continue with exercises.

It had taken about a year each to complete the elemental manipulation of his wind and water nature chakra as per the book. Currently Naruto was doing a more advanced form of elemental manipulation training as he named it. He found how he could better improve his hold over his elemental from an old book he found in the library at the house. In case of wind and water elements one had to train to sense and use the wind and water in the air. One had to sense and manipulate the elements around him. By now he was able to create small tornados of wind and was and draw a little water out of thin air.

Suddenly Naruto felt a small disturbance in the win currents. He opened his yes and few seconds later Kakashi appeared with a smoke.

"YOU ARE LATE", screeched Sakura.

"Well, on my way here a black cat passed my road, so to not be cursed by bad luck I came here by traveling from the other side of the village", said Kakashi. The others had a big sweat drop at hearing their sensei's words. 'That's so lame', all 4 of them thought.

Kakashi removed two bells and an alarm clock from his pockets. "Now you are to come at me with all you get with the intention to kill. The ones who get the bells pass, while the others go back to the academy. You have up to noon to get the bells that is about 2 hours from now."

"That's unfair", said all four.

"Well who said being ninja is about being fair. Now START", said Kakashi.

On cue Sakura, Hitomi and Sasuke vanished from Kakashi's eye view. All they had planned for the tests was now useless. Now they had to fight for themselves. Sasuke and Hitomi hid in opposite side of the grounds, so they could work together to get the bells. Sakura hid close by Sasuke.

'They at least are good at hiding. They would probably try a sneak attack, other than', thought Kakashi and spoke, "aren't you an odd one", to Naruto who was standing in the clearing.

"Well you know the test seems a bit odd", said Naruto.

"What do you mean by odd, Naruto?" asked Kakashi.

"Our team in a first place is already odd, but I never heard of a team with 2 genins and a jonin", said Naruto.

"I see, so what do you intend to do?" asked Kakashi.

"Well would you mind giving me a bell?" asked Naruto.

"Well that's a new approach, but sorry I won't", said Kakashi.

"Well it was worth a try", said Naruto and charged at Kakashi at speeds which surprised the older ninja.

Naruto attacked Kakashi with his improvised version of academic taijutsu. Kakashi was surprised at the blonde's taijutsu skills, even though it was easy for him to dodge and block the attacks. The taijutsu seemed to have a good balance and was focused on attacks. Kakashi decided to see how it was in defense, so he threw a few punches at the blonde, to which the blonde would blocked or dodged and quickly went into attack.

The blonde tried to go with down sweep with the legs which he would follow by an uppercut. But all his attempts were either blocked or dodged; he did come close in hitting his sensei. That was an accomplishment in itself to the blonde, so he decided to get some distance between him and his sensei.

The 3 hiding were amazed by the blonde skills at taijutsu. They knew the blonde was good at taijutsu, but not this good.

"Well your taijutsu is better than what I had heard. It seems you have modified the academic version to something that suits you…" said Kakashi wit an eye smile, "but it still needs some work."

"Thanks Sensei. And yes I am still working on it", said the blonde, "Now lets continue."

The blonde started doing handseals stopping on the dragon seal. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at what the blonde was up to now. As on cue he heard the blonde say **SUITON – JA NO KUCHI (WATER RELEASE – SNAKE'S MOUTH)**. A spiraling column of water rose from the nearby water stream and took form of a snake with gapping jaws and headed towards Kakashi and hit him dead on.

'What is that jutsu? Where did the dobe learn it from?' thought Sasuke with a frown.

'Amazing Uzumaki… how much were you hiding your skills at the academy?' wondered Hitomi.

'Naruto…' was all Sakura could think seeing Naruto's performance.

Naruto was able to see that what he hit was not Kakashi but a log. He tried to search for Kakashi, when he felt a presence behind him.

"That was a good one, but Naruto never let your enemy get behind you", said Kakashi crouched behind Naruto and holding a tiger seal.

Only one thought ran through the minds of other three, 'RUN NARUTO.' When Kakashi said **KONOHAGAKURE HIDEN TAIJUTSU OUGI – SENNEN GOROSHI **and shoved his fingers into Naruto's ass and send him flying. All deadpanned at what their sensei just did but were surprised when Naruto disappeared in smoke. The 3 couldn't understand what just happened.

'He substituted himself with a _**kage bunshin**_ at the last moment. I had heard from Hokage-sama of him learning the jutsu, but when did he make one?' thought Kakashi.

In the woods, hidden behind the bushes, 'I was lucky to have already made a _**kage bunshin**_ before hand, even if it was through memory that is one of the most dangerous jutsu', Naruto shivered even at the thought.

Kakashi decided to go check what the others were doing. Sakura was a disappointment in his eyes, she had easily fallen for a low level genjutsus_** magen – narakumi no jutsu (demonic illusion – hell viewing technique)**_ (you know what happened). According to academy reports she was smart and had a knack for genjutsus. The two Uchiha siblings had decided to attack in a unit, which came as no surprise to Kakashi. Hitomi had trapped him in a _**magen – kokoni arazu no jutsu (demonic illusion – false surrounding technique)**_ which was followed by volley of projectiles from the traps they set. Kakashi was easily able to get out of all of it. The siblings then came at Kakashi with their taijutsu combinations. They seemed to work well as a team, they were even able to touch the bells. Sasuke used his distance the two formed to fire a _**katon – gokakyu no jutsu (fire release – great fireball technique).**_ Kakashi used this to his advantage and used _**doton – shinju zanshu no jutsu (earth release – double suicide decapitation technique)**_ on the two.

When Sakura found the Uchiha siblings whose only head were visible above the ground, she screamed aloud and fainted. Naruto heard the scream and left to see what was up. When he found Sakura fainted and especially the two Uchiha's buried inside the ground with only their head above, he couldn't hold his laughter. After a few minutes he stopped and created two _**kage bunshins **_and made them use _**kawirami**_ with the siblings and woke up Sakura.

"Listen guys lets attack sensei together", said Naruto.

"I don't need your help dobe…" said Sasuke but was interrupted by Naruto.

"Come on teme, we have to work together. I tried on my own and failed. I know you guys tried and failed, since none of you have a bell. I know one thing Kakashi-sensei is way out of our league", said the blonde.

Sakura was embarrassed after hearing what Naruto said. She had done nothing and had fainted twice. So she decided to go with Naruto's idea. "I am in."

Hitomi knew she and Sasuke had given their best and failed. It was as Naruto said Kakashi was out of their league. "Well I am in too."

Sasuke was thinking along the same line as Hitomi, and seeing Hitomi join he too decided to go with it. "Fine. But who gets the bells?"

"Lets worry about it when we get them", said Naruto.

"So what is the plan?" asked Hitomi.

"We hardly have time left, so we ambush him with full force", said Naruto to which the others agreed.

The 4 of them went to the clearing where Kakashi was and went to make an assault on him. Kakashi was surprised to see all come at him at once, this was something he least expected.

By the time they reached to attack him, the alarm sounded.

"Seems like times up…" said Kakashi, to which all 4 had a dejected look on their faces. Kakashi continued, "none of you were able to get the bells from me. But you understood that I was above your league and decided to attack me as a team. So did you try to find the meaning of the test?"

The genins looked confused, after a few minutes Naruto and Hitomi said together, "teamwork", with a look saying it was so obvious but also ashamed that they couldn't get the meaning early.

Kakashi eye smiled at hearing what the two said, "Yes, it was teamwork. You were supposed to work as a team to get the bells."

"But sensei you only had two bells on you", said Sakura.

"Yes it was to see if you could put your teammates above you…" Kakashi walked to a stone which had names engraved on it and spoke, "this is a memorial were names of shinobi are engraved who were killed in action protecting Konoha and their friends. My best friends name is also engraved here. Always remember this; in the ninja world those who break the codes and rules are thrash… but those who ignore their comrades are lower than thrash."

All the genins were awed by what they hear from Kakashi.

"Now about the test, from what I saw at the end… you all pass", said Kakashi and the genins rejoiced at being passed. "Tomorrow you have a day off. We start as a team the next day. Meet at this ground by nine." With that said he disappeared.

(Hokage's office.)

A lot of shinobis were currently present at the Hokage's office. Everyone was eagerly waiting to hear who of the fresh academy graduates had passed and was now a true shinobi of Konoha. Especially the current batch had a lot of shinobis take an interest in it. Few of the graduates of the batch are son/daughter of clan heads of the major clan of Konoha and also the last 2 loyal Uchiha. Everyone was waiting for Kakashi Hatake – jonin instructor of team 7 to arrive. Finally Kakashi arrived and the meeting started.

"Now that the all jonin sensei are present, I would want a report of which teams pass/fail and for reason?" said the sandaime hokage to everyone.

It started with jonin sensei of team 1 giving the account of what happened in the test he gave, this reports went till team 6. All team senseis had failed their teams. Some couldn't work as a team, while some lacked abilities enough to fight for real. Now it was time for Kakashi to give his reports, but was stopped by the hokage.

"Kakashi since you were last to arrive, you will be last to give your report. Kurenai and then Asuma go on with your reports", said the hokage. All shinobi's were now very interested; the 3 teams had the heirs of the major clans.

"Team 8 passed, Hokage-sama", said Kurenai and recounted the test to the others. She had given a test o them to track and capture her within a space of two hours. The 3 genins had used their abilities to the fullest and had shown good team work and cooperation. She also believed the 3 had great potential as a team for tracking and espionage.

"Team 10 passes too", said Asuma. He had given the genins a test to tag him. The 3 as expected had shown good team work and with help of Shikamaru's plan were able to tag him. He said that if given the proper training would carry on the legacy of their fathers and could be the new generation of ino-shika-cho.

The shinobis present were awed by the praises of the two jonin senseis. The children of the clan heads had not only passed but showed great potential for the future. The only left to give his report was Kakashi, whose team compromised of the Uchiha siblings.

"Team 7 … also passed", said Kakashi surprising all present, since every team he was given until now had failed. Few shinobi started saying how it must be the Uchiha siblings must have been the main reason team 7 passed.

Kakashi want on to tell the others of what happened during the bell test. Of how Naruto was the fist to attack, before voicing his opinion of something of the test didn't feel right. He described how Naruto attacked with his modified version of academic taijutsu and then followed with a water jutsu and replacing himself with a _**kage bunshin**_ at the last moment before being hit by a _**sennen goroshi**_. He told of how easily Sakura had fallen for a simple genjutsus. Then he went on to explain how the Uchiha siblings attacked him together with their taijutsu and Hitomi with her genjutsu and Sasuke with his fire jutsu. He told how Naruto had convinced them to work together seeing how he was out of the 4 genins league.

The shinobis were happy at the performance of the two Uchihas; they also showed great potential something expected of the Uchiha clan. They were a bit disappointed in how Sakura had fallen for a simple genjutsu. But the biggest surprise to them was Naruto (the kyuubi brat, the village pariah) to perform this good and clearly had shown great potential. The sandaime Hokage, Iruka and few others present were although happy for the boy.

(2 months later.)

Being a genin for the past 2 months had shown Naruto and his team what it was to be a genin of Konoha. The life of a genin was far different from the life of an academy student. A genin was not only supposed to train to grow stronger to protect the village, but were also entitled to complete missions which help the village's finance.

As of now team 7 was on a special capture and retrieval mission assigned to them by the Hokage. The team was now scattered in the forest of Konoha in search of their target. Finally Sakura found someone who resembled their target; she alerted the others over the communicators. The other 3 members of team 7 soon reached the location and hid in the shadows of the trees so as to not alert the target.

"What is the distance to the taget?" inquired Kakashi through the communicators.

"5 meters. I am ready anytime", said Naruto.

"I am ready as well", said Sasuke.

"So am I", said Hitomi.

"Me too", said Sakura.

"GO!" commanded Kakashi's voice from the communicators.

The genins jumped on to catch the target that seemed rather used to escapes. After 10 minutes of struggle, the target was now resting in Sakura's arms. After confirming the identity of the target as lost pet Tora with Kakashi the team headed for the Hokage tower.

NARUTO'S P.O.V.

'I still don't understand why Kami is punishing me in such a cruel way', thought Naruto.

When he gathered information on the jonin sensei of his team his hopes had grown. Hatake Kakashi was hailed as one of Konoha's strongest: a man with over a 1000 jutsus. The man even seemed to carry no hatred for the blonde for what he carried. Finally a shinobi other than Iruka who was willing to teach him, but also could teach him far more than Iruka can ever. But of all Kakashi was the student of Yondaime Hokage. Finally he could learn of his father though stories of Kakashi's past, without letting anyone know he knew about his parents which were supposed to be a secret.

But through the 2 months as a genin his hopes had already been washed away. For the past two months he had leaned nothing from the man. Kakashi was always late; the team then went to carry out their usual D-rank missions (chores) and would leave as soon as the day's chores were over. When confronted to talk about his days as a genin, Kakashi would quickly change the subject.

As for his team mates, according to him they were completely mismatched as a team. Only the Uchiha siblings worked as a team.

Sasuke had the biggest ego he had ever come across. Other than his sister he would never listen to him and Sakura. Sasuke considered himself superior to the others as he was an Uchiha.

Hitomi also seemed to have 'I am an Uchiha the elite' attitude. But was reasonable enough to listen to the plans and ideas of the others on the team.

As for Sakura, she worshipped every word that came out of Sasuke's mouth. She would also agree with Hitomi, seeing as how she was the sister of her Kami (Sasuke). On the other hand she would try to belittle him at every possible mission.

Aside from his team, he came to know team 9 led by jonin Maito Gai. The team consisted of Tenten, Rock Lee and Hyuga Neji who had graduated the academy a year before him. He had come across Tenten few more times during training, she was impressed by his training regime and had taken to meet him her team. (I am not going to describe to readers about the team members.)

He had made fast friends with Lee and the two would often test their skills with each other. Tenten had also become a good friend and had helped him understand the use of various weapons. As for Neji, the boy was deluded greatly by the concept of fate shaping one's destiny. But the boy was dangerous in combat with his use of _**juken**_ (_**gentle fist**_) the special taijutsu of the Hyuga clan.

But meeting Gai-sensei had helped him a lot. Gai-sensei had asked him about his training regime after hearing a bit about it from his female student. After hearing his training regime Gai and Lee went on to declare of how he flowed with the 'Power of Youth'. Gai was helping him to improvise his taijutsu, which he was trying to learn from one of the scrolls he had found in his parent's house.

As for the other teams from his batch of graduates, team 8 and 10 were the only other teams to pass.

The jonin sensei of team 10 Sarutobi Asuma was also a lazy person according to Ino. He had yet to teach them any new individual skills, but at least had had helped them in their original skills along with team work exercises.

Kurenai Yuuhi the jonin sensei of team 8 was the only rookie team's sensei to teach their team. She not only trained her team on their teamwork and sharpening their original skills, but also thought her team a lot of useful stuffs required for a shinobi.

NORMAL P.O.V.

Naruto was brought out of his thoughts at the sight of Tora being hugged to death by its owner.

'Gyahahahaha! In your face stupid cat', thought Naruto.

'No wonder it ran away', thought Sakura.

'I pity Tora', thought Hitomi.

'Hn!' thought Sasuke.

"Now for your next mission team 7… babysits an elder's grandson, shopping or potato digging", said Sandaime Hokage looking in the mission list.

"NO! NO! NO! No thank you", called out Naruto putting his hands in cross shape in the front to emphasize the point. "Give us some better mission Hokage-jiji. The missions we have done so far are nothing but some stupid chores."

'Geez… How annoying…' thought Sakura.

"I agree", said Sasuke.

"These are indeed not ninja missions, Hokage-sama", said Hitomi.

'Sigh… I thought it was about time… but even Hitomi and Sasuke', thought Kakashi.

"Naruto! It seems I have to explain to you what these duties are all about", said the Hokage and went on to explain about various missions and who are they assigned to. (A.N. if you don't know what he says, you haven't read the manga yet, so what the heck are you doing reading this.)

"I understand all that stuff you said, but at least give us a better mission", said Naruto.

The old Hokage thought over it o a few seconds and then said, "Ok! I am giving your team a C-rank mission. It is a protection mission of a certain individual." He then asked his secretary to bring in the said person.

Tazuna walked in the mission office. Seeing him the Hokage said, "Team 7 this is the client you will be protecting. Tazuna-san this is team 7, the one who would be in charge with your protection."

"What the hell! It's just a bunch of snot nosed gaki's!" The man exclaimed in annoyance, taking the bottle he had in his hand and chugging down several gulps.

'He's certainly not what I expected', Naruto thought to himself, his left eye twitching erratically.

"The two girls look like they care more about their looks then ninja duties. The guy with black hair in the shape of a ducks ass looks like he is practicing for some brooding contest. And of all, does any ninja wear orange like the blonde midget and also a Cyclops", said Tazuna taking another gulp of sake.

"Hnn…" scowled Sasuke and went on to pose a new brooding pose.

"Indeed Tazuna-san I do take care of my looks, but I also take my ninja duties and training seriously", said Hitomi.

"Y… Yes", said Sakura. She wanted to respond to Tazuna just the way Hitomi had, but what the man had said was indeed the truth in her case.

'_CHA! We have to look good for Sasuke-kun_', said Sakura's inner voice. 'You are right, the old man would never understand.' This made Sakura feel better.

"Who said ninjas can not wear orange? I love orange, so I wear it. Get your knowledge right old man Tazuna, ninjas are not known for what they wear but are known for their skills", said the blonde shocking the people in the room. "And who are you calling a midget. I am going to kill you." He jumped forward to attack Tazuna but was stopped by Kakashi.

"Now it isn't nice to kill the client before the mission starts", said Kakashi with a eye smile.

"U-u-uh… right…" Tazuna stuttered a bit as he heard the words of the blonde. "Anyways, my name is Tazuna, and I am a master bridge builder. You will escort me back home to Nami No Kuni, where I am building my next bridge." Somehow, despite his drunken stupor, Tazuna managed to straighten himself, "I expect all of you to protect me, even it costs you your lives."

"Right then", Kakashi said as he tried to the cool off the tension between his students and client. "Let's all meet at the east gate tomorrow at 8 in the morning. Pack for about a week's worth mission."

Team 7 left the tower to meet tomorrow for their first C-rank mission.

END CHAPTER…


	5. Chapter 5

Hi readers, back with another chapter.

Thoughts : 'hi.'

Speech : "jerk."

Jutsus : **KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU **(when used), _**Mizu bunshin no jutsu **_(when mentioned.)__

Inner-Sakura : _'I am a jerk.'_

5: _The wave and the demon_.

It was around 7 in the morning, Naruto just returned to his apartment after about 2 hours of workout. He still had about an hour before he was to meet his team and client at the east gate of Konoha. It was just a normal C-rank mission, but still was way better than the D-rank missions they had been assigned to since being a genin.

Yesterday after the team left the Hokage tower, Naruto went to meet Gai to inform that he would not be present at training for about a week. Gai advised him to try and find some time for training, but also give the mission his first priority. Lee had given him special protein bars to use on the mission and also has good luck for his first C-rank mission. Tenten had helped him make a list of all necessary stuffs he needed to carry on the mission.

Naruto took a bath to wash of the sweat from the morning workout. After that he proceeded to pack his stuff for the mission. Naruto's attire consisted of dark blue shinobi pants, dark blue tee shirt, orange half sleeve jacket, blue shinobi sandals and fingerless gloves. A shuriken holder was strapped to thigh.

Naruto sealed his camping gear, basic medical kit, a trap kit, food and water (mostly ramen), extra set of clothes and extra weapons in some scrolls and stuffed them in his utility belt along his waist. He sealed the basic equipment of sealing (brush, ink bottles and any other stuff) in the containment seal on his left wrist. He sealed a few kunais in the seals placed on his gloves. The two seals would only be visible if he applied his chakra to it. The seal on the gloves was special, he could summon the number of kunais he wanted by applying a bit of chakra but only when he wanted. The seal would not interfere when he molded chakra while using a jutsu.

Only 15 minutes before he would meet his team at the east gate. He left his house after activating the security seal he put on his door.

(At the same time at Uchiha compound.)

The two Uchiha siblings were dressed in their normal attire. The two had packed the essentials such as the camping gear, food and water, medical kit, extra weapons and extra clothes, Hitomi also had packed stuffs girls need (a.n. I am a boy and so have no clue what extra stuffs girls carry). The two were now walking through the Uchiha compound heading towards the east gate to meet their team.

"So what do you think of our team?" asked Hitomi.

Sasuke had a raised eyebrow at the sudden question, "Hnn… Why do you ask?"

The two of them hardly talked about their teammates, hell other than the team meetings and missions they had never interacted with their teammates. So his sister asking him about his opinion on the team members had taken Sasuke by surprise.

"Well simple really, from today about a week or more we will be with them 24 hours of the day", said Hitomi.

"I see…" said Sasuke. The two walked in silence for a minute at which Sasuke spoke again, "I am not going to pass any opinion on Kakashi-sensei. As for the other two, Sakura would be good in my books if she stops pestering me for dates and take being a ninja seriously." He got a nod from his sister.

"I guess you are right about Sakura", said Hitomi. Sakura just like most of the girls of the 'Uchiha Sasuke fan club' thought that her bother would be there to save them out of any dangers. At least unlike most girls Sakura had given a bit more importance to being a ninja. Her taijutsu was average unlike most others girls, whose taijutsus were pathetic to say the least. Sakura was also really smart in academics.

"Kakashi-sensei should at least teach us something useful", Hitomi also didn't want to form an opinion on Kakashi. Has it had been only a 2 months since she met sensei.

"As of the dobe, he is decent for someone without a clan", said Sasuke a bit annoyed.

Hitomi was not surprised by the annoyed look Sasuke gave when he spoke of Naruto. Naruto was a civilian and an orphan; he lived on his own as far as the Uchiha siblings could remember. Also no one seemed to help him. Hitomi only remembered a few people who helped Naruto or rather associated with him. Even still he could fight on equal grounds with both the Uchihas.

"Yes Uzumaki is indeed a mystery", said Hitomi to which she received a raised eyebrow from Sasuke. The two walked in silence towards the gates to meet their team.

(At the same time Hanuro household.)

Hanuro Sakura was currently in her room rechecking the stuffs she had packed last night for the mission. "Make-up kit – check, beautiful dresses to impress Sasuke-kun – check, camping gear – check, basic medical kit – check, weapons – check, food – check."

She had informed her parents of the mission last night after she came home. Both parents being civilians were a bit worried about their daughter. She had told them what C-rank missions were and also there with her would be Kakashi-sensei and the two Uchihas.

(0800 hours at the east gate.)

The Uchiha siblings were the first to arrive at the gates 5 minutes before their meeting time. The two were silently thinking over the conversation they had few minutes prior. Sakura was the next to arrive at about exactly 8'o clock. She looked over her teammates who seemed rather busy thinking over something, decided to stand quietly alongside a tree.

Naruto was the next to arrive. He was about 10 minutes late. It seemed neither his sensei (which was obvious) nor the client had yet arrived at the gates. The Uchiha siblings were present along with Sakura also waiting in anticipation of their first C-rank mission.

Sasuke was the first to notice the blonde. Looking at the blonde his eyebrow raised a bit and he asked, "Where is your stuff or are you intending to not join the mission. Afraid of a few bandits, dobe."

Hitomi and Sakura turned to the direction where Sasuke was looking. They saw Naruto coming from the direction with no trace of any equipment for their journey.

"Good one teme. As for my stuff…" said Naruto pointing at the pockets of his pants "…I got everything in here."

"BAKA, WE ARE NOT GOING OUT FOR MAYBE WEEKS", shouted Sakura.

"Now Sakura have you never heard of sealing scrolls?" asked Naruto.

This answered the question of the 3 of where Naruto's stuff was.

(1 hour later.)

Kakashi showed up with Tazuna at the gates. All of his students were already present there and currently resting along the trees. When his eyes settled on Naruto and saw the boy was not carrying any stuff with him. He was about to question the blonde when his eyes lay on the book he was reading. 'A book on fuinjutsu. Now that is interesting', thought Kakashi.

"Naruto your stuff", asked Kakashi to Naruto, who pointed at his pockets. "Sealing scrolls?" asked Kakashi to which the blonde nodded. Kakashi decided to ask where the boy got the scrolls from, but decided that on a later time. "Okay team lets go."

(On the road to wave.)

Team 7 quietly walked down the road along with Tazuna towards their destination. This was their second day on the road. The whole journey until now was a quite matter apart from the times when Sakura was trying to make Sasuke notice her.

It was after noon time and the sun was shining with all its grace. As they were walking Naruto and Kakashi's gaze fell upon a puddle of water in middle of the road. Naruto looked at his sensei with a look which said 'what o we do now?' Kakashi eye smiled passing a message 'just relax for now.' The puddles indicated to both Kakashi and Naruto that there were ninjas hiding and were ready to ambush. But the question that came in their min was on whom.

As the team walked past the puddle, two figures rose from it. They quickly wrapped Kakashi with the chains attached to their gauntlets quickly killing Kakashi. The 4 members of team 7 and Tazuna seeing this went in a bit of shock as they saw the body of Kakashi being torn into pieces. The two attackers ran forward to attack the others.

Naruto was the first to come out of shock, watching the attackers go after Tazuna. Naruto hurried between Tazuna and the two attackers delivering kicks to the mid section of the two. The kicks forced the two to loose their balance. A shuriken and kunai thrown by Hitomi caught the chain and pinned the two to a nearby tree. After being pinned to the tree, Sasuke delivered kicks to their heads. Sakura coming out of her shock hurried towards Tazuna and placed herself before Tazuna in a defensive manner with a kunai in hand.

The two attackers were not expecting themselves in such a position. They had been patiently been waiting for their target the bridge builder to arrive hiding themselves in a puddle of water. The bridge builder came along with a team of 5 shinobis, a jounin and 4 genins. They passed the puddle without knowing the threat it possessed. As they team passed the puddle they had come out of hiding and attacked the most possible threat in their goal to kill the bridge builder. The jounin had been an easy kill, so they figured the genins would not be much. But now both of them were pinned to the tree.

'Damn those bastards' was the thought of both of the attackers. The two of them released themselves from the chains connecting their claw gauntlets and charged towards the bridge builder.

Naruto recognized the two from one of the bingo book he had copied information from. The two attacking them were labeled as the demon brothers and were chunin ranked missing nin from Kirigakure. The two were known for their teamwork and use of poisoned weapons. Knowing it would be not good to let the two initiate the attack, the two had to be dealt swiftly. Naruto brought his right hand in front of his mouth and blew wind infused chakra into his palm creating small, whirlwind- like ball i.e. _**Kaze no bōru o rasen-jō**_ (_**spiraling wind ball**_). He fired two in quick succession at the two attackers.

The demon brothers were taken completely by surprise when the two small balls of wind connected with each of their stomach knocking the wind out of them. The two were immediately knocked unconscious.

Kakashi decided to come out of hiding and make his presence known. He decided to wait and look who the target of the two was and show himself when things would look down for his team. All of his team was shocked watching him die which was something he expected. The team had gathered themselves quick and stopped the duos attack. But most surprising was the jutsu that Naruto used at the end which knocked the demon brothers unconscious.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI! YOU ARE ALIVE, BUT HOW?" called Sakura out loud.

The other three looked at the place were Kakashi's body parts were scattered to only find pieces of logs scattered around. It seemed that their sensei had used _**kawarimi no jutsu**_ at the very last minute.

'Showoff' thought Hitomi and Sasuke.

'I should have expected something of this sort. He already knew of the puddle' Naruto thought.

"Good job you four at neutralizing the enemy. Though at first you four were shocked to move, but quickly regained yourselves", said Kakashi with an eye smile.

"And whose fault was that?" asked Naruto.

"Ah! Sorry sorry. I wanted to know who the two were after", said Kakashi.

"Wait you mean to tell me that you already knew there was someone about to attack us?" asked Tazuna a bit annoyed.

"Yes, it was rather simple. A puddle of water in middle of the street in the hot afternoon and also it seemed like there was no rain for the past few days", said Naruto.

"It is just like Naruto said. I just wanted to know their target, was it a rivalry between shinobis of different villages or you the bridge builder. Well it seems their target was you", said Kakashi to which Tazuna started sweating. "By your reaction it is simple to figure out that you knew of shinobis being after your life and still you lied about the mission. It is easily a B-rank mission. Care to explain why?"

Noting the seriousness in Kakashi's voice Tazuna decided to tell them everything. He told them about Gato and his goons and how they had taken over the small village in Nami no Kuni. How the bridge he was building was the only hope for people of his village. It was because of Gato he couldn't afford a high ranking mission so he had to lie.

Kakashi quietly listened to the Tazuna's story. He let the decision on his students. "So, what do you guys say?"

"It will be better if we continue, after all it is our mission", said Hitomi to which Sasuke only nodded.

'There may be chances of fighting more ninjas and this time I won't be losing to the dobe' thought Sasuke.

"The mission is not for a genin team to handle", said Sakura. She knew she was not ready to face something like this. She quickly chanced a look at Sasuke hoping he didn't think o her as a looser.

"I say we help the old man Tazuna", said Naruto with eagerness.

"Well it's decided then, we continue", said Kakashi to the excitement of all but Sakura. 'But the next ninja we fight will probably be a jounin' thought Kakashi.

(2 days later.)

The group of six headed to Nami no Kuni with relative peace. Since the encounter with the demon brothers team 7 had been on constant alert for possible enemy attacks, but they encountered no one so far. Their destination was now just a few hours away. Currently they were on a small boat which a man was rowing across the sea to their destination. The area had a thick fog cover. After a few minutes of journey they were able to see the bridge. It was indeed a magnificent and gigantic piece of work.

After getting of the boat they took the road by the forests heading towards the town. The fog was slowly kept on increasing. Suddenly Naruto threw a kunai in the nearby bushes startling the others. From the bushes came out a white snow rabbit which hurried itself out of the area.

"BAKA NARUTO, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKI NG?" screeched Sakura tying to punch Naruto which he dodged.

"Quite down Sakura, and I thought I heard something in the bushes" said Naruto.

'That was a snow rabbit and still in the summer its fur was still white. It was probably used for a _**kawarimi**_' thought Kakashi. As on cue he heard a noise of something sharp cutting the air heading towards them. "GET DOWN", he shouted.

Hear their sensei shout, each member of team 7 and Tazuna crouched down on the ground. Something passed over them and went and stuck a nearby tree. When all looked at what the object was, they were shocked to see it was very large blade. But most of all shocking things there was a man standing on it.

The man was shirtless, wearing only pants and armbands. His face below the eyes was covered in bandages. He wore his headband on his head in a tilted fashion. The mark on the headband signified he was ninja from Kirigakure no Sato and the slash mark along it marked him as a missing ninja.

"Well well if it isn't missing nin Momochi Zabuza from Kirigakure no Sato", said Kakashi looking up at the enemy. "Everyone go stand guard over Tazuna. This is on a whole new level. For this I will have to do this", said Kakashi lifting his hitai-te above his left eye.

"No wonder the demon brothers were defeated. To think I will be meeting you here and also getting to see your left eye on our first encounter. Kakashi Hatake of Konohagakure no Sato, famed as Copy ninja Kakashi and also Sharingan no Kakashi, the man who has copied over a 1000 jutsus", said Zabuza.

Kakashi revealed his left eye to show a _**Sharingan**_ eye with 3 tomoes. The other four quickly hurried back to Tazuna guarding him from all sides. Only one thought ran trough the minds of Naruto and the Uchiha siblings mind 'Sharingan but how?'

Zabuza got to the nearby water body standing on it called out, "let's see you fight against this **KIRIGAKURE NO JUTSU**." Suddenly the mist in the area gradually increased to the point it was had to even see what was next to you.

"Team guard Tazuna at your best, leave him to me. He will come after me first. Zabuza is a master of _**Mugon no satsugai **_(_**silent killing**_) art. You don't even know when he strikes until you are dead. Also due to the mist I can't use the _**Sharingan"**_, said Kakashi.

The four genins stepped further close to Tazuna. The mist was getting thicker every second, while the air was filled with powerful killing intent. All the 4 genins along with Tazuna were shivering from the killing intent.

Suddenly every one heard Zabuza's voice "8 choices. Liver, Lungs, Spine, Clavical vein, Neck vein, Kidneys, Heart. Which one should I go after?"

'What an incredibly dangerous killing intent. It feels like I will die if I make a make a move…' thought Sasuke while shivering and sweating.

'Un… unbelievable… is this what it means to feel like to die' though Hitomi while she to was shivering and sweating even more than Sasuke.

Sakura was slowly drifting to unconsciousness with the amount of pressure.

Tazuna was in same state as Sakura 'is this how fight between two ninjas happen?'

'Steady, Steady' thought Naruto while trying to control his shaking.

"Don't worry, I will protect you all even if it kills me. I don't let my comrades die", said Kakashi with an eye smile, relaxing all.

"We will see about that", they all heard Zabuza say and suddenly he was in between the genins and Tazuna.

As he was about to cut Tazuna Kakashi appeared behind him. [A.N. now the fight goes on the same way as in manga until Zabuza captures Kakashi in his _**Suirō no Jutsu (water prison jutsu)**_.]

"Kids now days call themselves ninja when they wear the hitai-te. But you know what? A real ninja is someone who has survived numerous brushes with death", said Zabuza while creating a _**mizu bunshin **_(_**water clone**_) of himself. "Basically once you are good enough to be listed in my hand book…" continued Zabuza but was interrupted by someone shouting.

"**KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU**", Naruto called out creating about 50 clones surrounding Zabuza. "I would have loved to listen to you speak, but first have a sensei to save", said Naruto.

"What are you doing Naruto? He is not someone you guys can beat. Take Tazuna-san and run away. As long as he is keeping me trapped he can't move. The _**mizu bunshin **_cannot go very far from the real body", shouted Kakashi.

"I know that sensei, but I am not going to abandon a comrade. Didn't you say before 'in the ninja world those who break the codes and rules are thrash… but those who ignore their comrades are lower than thrash' right?" said the Naruto clones. "CHARGE", came a shout and all Narutos attacked Zabuza at once.

All the clones attacked jumped over the _**mizu bunshin**_ trying to overpower it. The clones were easily thrown away by Zabuza's _**mizu bunshin **_as if they were nothing.

'He is really strong' were the thoughts of the genins and Tazuna.

"_**Kage bunshin no jutsu **_that's a very interesting jutsu you have blonde. But you are still far away from being a true ninja. When I was your age… these hands were already dyed with blood", said Zabuza shocking all.

"Devil Zabuza…" said Kakashi.

"I see, you have heard about it. To simply put it…" said Zabuza but was interrupted by a shout from Naruto.

"Take this you eye brow less freak", all heard Naruto shout.

Every one looked in the direction from where they heard the voice. They saw one of the Naruto clones jumping in the sky with an evil windmill shuriken in hand. He threw the large shuriken at Zabuza's _**mizu bunshin**_ with all force it could gather.

"A shuriken won't work against me", said Zabuza.

[A.N. the rest of the fight between Zabuza and Kakashi goes the same way, to the point where the hunter-nin shows up and takes away Zabuza (excluding Naruto shouting about the hunter-nin and explanation of his strategy).]

"SUPER THANKS GUYS. For saving my life", said Tazuna, to which everyone smiled.

"That hunter-nin was about our age…" said Naruto "… and yet that powerful."

No one could argue with Naruto's statement. The hunter-nin was indeed was about their age and yet it had killed Zabuza with such ease. No one had noticed the presence of the hunter-nin.

"You are right Naruto. In the ninja world there exists kids younger than you guys and yet stronger than me", said Kakashi to the others while sliding his hitai-te over his _**Sharingan**_ eye.

'How did the hunter-nin obtain such power? I intend to gain such power to kill him' were the thoughts of Sasuke.

'Amazing' thought Hitomi.

"Now let's go, we have to get Tazuna-san back to his home", said Kakashi taking a few steps forward and suddenly he collapsed.

"SENSEI", the four genins shouted gathering around Kakashi along with Tazuna.

"Hey, what happened to him?" asked Tazuna with concern in his voice.

"Kakashi-sensei doesn't seem that hurt, must be chakra exhaustion", said Hitomi.

"But how?" asked Sakura.

"It must be because of the _**Sharingan**_ eye. He does always keeps it covered", said Naruto. "Well we are going to get nothing staying here, lets get to old man Tazuna's house. There Kakashi-sensei can rest a bit", continued Naruto while looking at Tazuna who just nodded. "Oi Sasuke! Help me carry him."

[The Haku and Zabuza scene goes same as the manga.]

(At Tazuna's house.)

Currently the four genins were sitting around a sleeping Kakashi. The four were currently trying to get a look at the face of their sensei beneath the mask he wore. Suddenly Kakashi awoke in a sort of panic startling the four.

'What am I missing?' was the thought of Kakashi.

"You finally woke up it seems", said Tazuna who entered the room along with a woman in her late 20's and a boy about 7-8 years old.

Tazuna introduced the two as his daughter Tsunami and his grandson Inari. Tsunami thanked the ninjas for safely escorting her father back home. Inari didn't say anything and just quietly left and tsunami left after him to prepare some food for all.

"Sensei you look a bit worried", said Naruto.

"I was just thinking about the fight with Zabuza", said Kakashi earning confused look from all his students and Tazuna. "Do you remember what weapon the hunter-nin used and what happened afterwards?"

"Well the hunter-nin used senbons", said Hitomi.

"And afterwards took Zabuza's boy to dispose it", said Sakura.

Sakura, Hitomi, Sasuke and Tazuna could not understand what Kakashi was getting at trying to remember the fight were Zabuza had died by the hands of the hunter-nin. Naruto's face looked calm and normal but on the inside he was trying to figure what Kakashi was getting at.

Kakashi went on to tell about what hunter-nins are used for. How they are responsible for disposing of a ninja's body of their country so it's secret won't be known to others. Also those hunter-nins are thought how a human body works and how to disable and destroy it.

That fused the bulb in Naruto's head, "So you mean to say that Zabuza is alive", said Naruto earning gasps from all but Kakashi.

"NARUTO-BAKA, you really are a idiot. Kakashi-sensei checked on Zabuza and he was surely dead", said Sakura with a scowl.

"Actually Sakura, I think Naruto is right", said Kakashi which caused a look of horror spread on all aces present.

"But sensei you checked Zabuza's pulse yourself and declared him dead", said Hitomi.

Kakashi went to explain how senbons are mostly used for disabling a person. As also a hunter-nin who knows a human body can put a body in a death like state which can fool anyone. He also said that it would take about a week or two for Zabuza to attack again. It would take that much time for him to recover the injuries and death like state, when everyone asked what they were to do when he attacked since Kakashi was bedridden.

"For the next few days I will be training you, so that you can also help more in the fight", said Kakashi.

"How can training for a week help to fight someone like Zabuza? With whom even you had trouble fighting with", asked Hitomi.

"Now, now don't count yourselves down. You all did well against the demon brothers and that was a nice plan you implemented against Zabuza", said Kakashi to which Naruto flashed his biggest grin. "But it was risky too, you should have taken help from you teammates", continued Kakashi with a bit of disappointment in his voice.

"At first I was going to make them join my plan, but it all changed when Zabuza decided to talk about his past", said Naruto earning a questioning look from all and a raised eyebrow from Kakashi.

'Does he know?' thought Kakashi.

Naruto continued, "I don't know what Zabuza intended to say, but whatever it was it was not good. As each word he spoke your facial expressions turned pale and angry at the same time. It sure was something that would have destroyed the little confidence we had. So I decided to take quick action."

"I see and yes you were right", said Kakashi and went on with what Zabuza was going to say (you must know it, so I am not going to right). When Kakashi was finished everyone's face in the room had turned pale. There was silence for about 2 minutes which was finally broken by Tazuna.

"YOU DID A GREAT JOB BRAT", shouted Tazuna patting Naruto's shoulder.

'It is good that Uzumaki ended the speech in middle or we would be frozen just like now against a jounin who wanted to kill us' thought Hitomi.

'Damn you dobe, even at a time like that you were able to steady yourself and fight while I – an Uchiha could not do a thing' thought Sasuke 'but next time I will be prepared.'

'Naruto was able to come up with all this' thought Sakura looking at Naruto. _'CHA! I bet even Sasuke-kun could have done all this'_ said inner-Sakura to which Sakura only nodded.

END CHAPTER…

Well thanks for the reviews that you sent.

Now you may have seen not much new I have put up in the chapters so far. I only showed Naruto to be a bit more powerful. So far I have focused on his character development.

The Zabuza vs. Kakashi fight was hardly changed, simply Zabuza is very powerful for the now Naruto. Even Kakashi could hardly keep up with him.


	6. Chapter 6

Hi readers, back with another chapter.

Thoughts : 'hi.'

Speech : "jerk."

Jutsus : **KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU **(when used), _**Mizu bunshin no jutsu **_(when mentioned.)

Kyuu-bi speaking : **"I want to tear you into pieces"**

Kyuu-bi thoughts : **'World domination'**

Inner-Sakura : _'I am a jerk.'_

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* * *

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6: _Training._

After the talk and having a healthy breakfast team 7 along with their sensei went to the woods nearby Tazuna's home. Kakashi had informed them that he would be training them so they could have a better chance when they meet Zabuza next time in a fight. All were enthusiastic about the training as this would be the first time Kakashi would be truly training them. They stopped in middle of a clearing in the woods.

"Now as I told you before I will be training you so you can stand a better chance in the fight", said Kakashi while holding his support crutches.

"So you are going to teach us some awesome jutsu Kakashi-sensei", said Naruto with enthusiasm and stars for his eyes.

"In a way yes", said Kakashi. "I am going to teach you today the art of tree walking", continue Kakashi to which the other 4 had a huge sweat drop.

"But Kakashi-sensei we already know how to climb to trees", said Sakura.

"That you indeed do, but o you know how to climb without using you hands?" asked Kakashi to which he got confusing look from his 3 students and a bored look from Naruto. This didn't go unnoticed by Kakashi.

"What do you mean by that sensei?" asked Hitomi.

"Watch carefully", said Kakashi. He formed the Hitsuji (Ram) hand sign gathering chakra in the soles of his feet. He then quietly walked to a nearby tree and set a foot on the tree and then the other, clinging onto the tree. He walked up the tree as if walking on the ground to a nearby branch to the amazement of 3 of his team.

"Now you all try this to by concentrating chakra to the soul of your feet. Take a running start that will help you", said Kakashi throwing a kunai in front of each of his student. "Use the kunai to mark the height you reached and then try to surpass it."

"Not that I mind sensei how is this going to help us be strong?" asked Hitomi.

Kakashi then went on to explain the usage of chakra and how exercises like tree walking help one to make better use of one's chakra with not wasting much.

With all said the four started with their training. Hitomi and Sasuke took a running start, while Sakura first concentrated her chakra the same way as Kakashi and walked up the tree. Naruto on the other hand just went towards the tree and quietly walked on it. Hitomi and Sasuke quickly fell of the tree after about 15 steps. The place from where Sasuke fell showed a small crack in the bark.

"Looks like I forgot to mention that if you use more chakra you will be thrown of the tree and less chakra you won't be able to stick to it", said Kakashi to the annoyance of the two Uchihas. 'I thought the first to fall of the tree would be Naruto but it doesn't seem that way' thought Kakashi looking at the tree where Naruto was calmly climbing the tree.

"This seems rather easy", came Sakura's voice.

The 3 looked to the place they heard Sakura's voice come from. They saw that Sakura had already climbed up the tree and was now sitting on a lower branch.

"Looks like the two Uchiha are not so great. Sakura has easily done what was to be done on her very first try", said Kakashi causing an angry and disappointed look on both Uchihas.

"Kakashi-sensei don't be mean to Sasuke-kun and Hitomi", shouted Sakura. _'CHA! He is going to make Sasuke-kun hate us' _came inner-Sakura's voice. 'Right' thought Sakura agreeing to her inner self.

"And looks like even Naruto has got a good hang of the exercise", said Kakashi.

The 3 looked towards the tree which Naruto had chosen. The sight caused more anger in the Uchihas and also Sakura. Naruto was clinging by his feet to the highest branch of the tree. Hitomi and Sasuke went on to continue with the exercise not to be up staged by their two teammates.

Naruto jumped down in front of his sensei while Sakura went on to rest and watch Sasuke train.

"Sakura continue with the exercise. Your chakra control seems good and continuing the exercise will help your chakra reserves to grow. Hitomi and Sasuke continue until you get it right. Naruto you come with me", said Kakashi.

'Damn that Dobe again knowing something I don't' thought Sasuke.

'Who taught tree walking to Uzumaki?' thought Hitomi.

"It seems you already knew of the exercise by the way you performed it", said Kakashi to Naruto as the two walked to a new clearing.

"I didn't know of this exercise but I did perform it before", said Naruto to which Kakashi eye brow was raised a bit. Seeing Kakashi's reaction Naruto continued, "you see I thought that all ninjas were supposed to know how to climb walls and walk on water, so I trained a lot. I never knew the exercise had such a meaning and benefits."

"So I take you can walk on water too", said Kakashi to which Naruto only nodded.

"Well so what are you going to teach me now. Some cool awesome jutsu", said Naruto with stars in his eyes.

"Well since you also know water walking I will teach you a jutsu", said Kakashi to which the stars in his grew bigger. "I recollect you using the _**kage bunshin **_and _**suiton – ja no kuchi**_ (_**Water Release: Snake's Mouth**_) during the bell test and also use a _**Fūton**_ jutsu which I didn't recognize." To which Naruto only nodded.

"The _**Fūton **_jutsu is a jutsu I created and is named _**Kaze no bōru o rasen-jō**_ (_**spiraling wind ball**_). I wanted to create a small ball of compact wind but it didn't have much power. I was struck by an awesome idea by watching a spring in action. The next time I compacted more win chakra into the ball by spiraling it. And that is how I created my awesome jutsu", said Naruto.

On the outside Kakashi only had his single eyebrow raised a bit but in the inside he was in a complete shock. 'Amazing to come up with such a jutsu by himself. From what I saw it is easily a B-rank jutsu and also so much similar to sensei's _**rasengan**_' thought Kakashi.

"So I take it you know of your nature affinity", said Kakashi to which Naruto nodded. "And I take it is wind."

"I have two nature affinity of wind and water", said Naruto surprising Kakashi more.

"I see", said Kakashi. Dual affinities were not that rare but still it was surprising for Kakashi. "I take it you have also complete nature manipulation of the two", said Kakashi to which Naruto hesitantly nodded. "Care to tell me where you learned it from?" asked Kakashi.

Naruto scratched the back of his head in a sheepish manner, "Well I am good at sneaking at places without anyone's notice."

Kakashi did remember of all the pranks Naruto had pulled during his academy days. Of how it was not until he finished the pranks was he even noticed. He specifically remembered the prank on the Hokage monument and the itchy powder prank on some jounin clothes which were in the jounin lounge. "Indeed."

They reached a clearing in the woods a bit further away from their team.

"I am going to teach you two jutsus; one is a _**Fūton**_ and the other is _**Katon**_ jutsu. Now I know you are not a fire type but you can use it in collaboration with your _**Fūton **_jutsus", said Kakashi to which Naruto nodded.

"Now the _**Fūton **_jutsu is called _**Fūton: Kami Oroshi **_(_**Wind Release: Godly Wind from the Mountain**_). The jutsu creates a vortex of wind to blast at the target. The _**Katon **_jutsu is called _**Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu**_ (_**Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique**_). It's as the name suggest you breath fire in the shape of a dragon", said Kakashi.

Kakashi showed Naruto the hand signs required for both jutsus. He also explained how to convert chakra to use _**Katon **_jutsus. He couldn't give a demonstration of the jutsus since he was still suffering from chakra exhaustion. After giving Naruto all the information he would require to lean the jutsus he went on to check on his other students.

(4 days later at Tazuna's house during dinner time.)

The genins along with Kakashi and Tazuna's family were currently having dinner. The 4 had just returned from their training.

KAKASHI'S P.O.V.

Kakashi was proud of his student's progress so far. Hitomi and Sasuke were able to walk up to the top of the tree. Sakura's chakra reserves were slowly increasing with the exercise. The 3 were now trying to get a hang of doing the exercise sub consciously has they had seen their blonde teammate do. As for Naruto, he was already able to use the _**Fūton: Kami Oroshi **_(_**Wind Release: Godly Wind from the Mountain**_), which showed to Kakashi that the boy had a good grasp of _**Fūton **_jutsus. He had still not managed to get a hang of _**Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu**_ (_**Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique**_), but it was clear that his progress with the jutsu was better than Kakashi expected.

'The four are doing well with their training. Sakura's chakra reserves are coming along good, if she keeps up training to increase her reserves and with the kind of chakra control she possess she can turn out good. She only has to drop her fan girlish nature' thought Kakashi looking over at Sakura who looked tired from her training.

'As for Hitomi and Sasuke their chakra reserves are already better than many genins I have known of and they will only keep on increasing. The two would be really someone to watch in the future' thought Kakashi looking over at the siblings who were in the same condition as Sakura.

'But Naruto, the boy already possesses huge amount of chakra, even larger than me. I was already surprised to know not only knew a dozen of jutsus but also had completed his nature manipulation training. He would grow onto be really powerful in the near future. The way he is going he might achieve his dreams for sure' thought Kakashi with a smile beneath his mask looking towards Naruto.

END P.O.V. 

Naruto had kept up with his training regime he used while he was home. He kept up with his physical and taijutsu training. He had also increased the power of the resistance seal he used while training. He had given most of his time in learning the two jutsus Kakashi had explained him.

After 4 days of continuous practice Naruto was finally able to use _**Fūton: Kami Oroshi **_(_**Wind Release: Godly Wind from the Mountain**_) to its full potent as per Kakashi, when he gave Kakashi a demonstration. For the second jutsu, work was still in progress. It took him 3 days to finally create fire from his mouth. Kakashi had finally today given him a demonstration of _**Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu**_ (_**Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique**_). It was just now getting right amount of fire natured chakra and manipulating its shape to use the jutsu as Kakashi had told him.

"Now listen guys", called Kakashi getting the attention of the others. "You all are doing good in terms of your training and I want you to continue to make yourself better. Now from tomorrow onwards one of you guys will be on guard duty of Tazuna-san on the bridge", said Kakashi.

"So you mean to say Zabuza might attack the bridge anytime now", said Hitomi.

"It will take about 4-5 days for Zabuza to be completely healed and attack the bridge. By that time I would also be completely healed. This is just a safety precaution if some bandits attack the bridge", said Kakashi with an eye smile reassuring all present at the table. "Naruto you will be on guard duty tomorrow."

"OK. If any of Gato's bandits come I will show them who is the boss", said Naruto.

"You will all get yourselves killed", said Inari startling all.

"Nope that won't happen. I don't intend to die until I reach my dreams, and I am not going to let anything happen to old man Tazuna", said Naruto.

"No one can stand against Gato", said Inari looking a bit angry.

"I don't know what the 4 of us can do, but Kakashi-sensei can easily take care of Gato and his goons. He is the considered one of the strongest shinobi of our village. He has also fought in the 3rd great shinobi world war and is the student of the Yondaime Hokage, the hero of our village", said Naruto.

Inari was wide eyed; he looked a lot angrier and shouted, "There are no such things as heroes in this world", and left out of the room.

Naruto and the others had noticed the change in atmosphere in Tazuna's family when Naruto mentioned the word hero.

"Say Tazuna-san is there something wrong that you would mind telling us", said Kakashi.

"As you are protecting me and in a way protecting the country, let me tell you the story of the man who was called the hero of this village", said Tazuna. [A.N. you guys already know the story so not going to write about it. If you don't know the stories just read the manga or watch the anime.]

After hearing the story did the 5 from Konohagakure really understood what the county was going through. Naruto got up from his seat and quietly walked up to the door.

"Naruto where are you going?" asked Kakashi.

"To show that brat that Heroes do exist", said Naruto and walked out of the house.

Unknown to all Inari had hear everything and seen the reactions of the others.

(Clearing in the woods.)

It had been 2 hours since Naruto had left Tazuna's house to train. But his mind was too much clouded by the story he decided to do something calming.

He decided to meditate a bit. Meditation was not something Naruto could do well enough. The meditation Naruto used was one which he sat in a place quietly trying to sense his own chakra. It helped in understanding and using the flow of chakra through one's body.

Naruto quietly sat down in the clearing and tried to get the feel of his chakra. Naruto knew his chakra was bit violent from the beginning, later he understood it was because of the small amount of Kyuu-bi's chakra leaking in his system. But now the chakra felt rather violent. He tried to calm his chakra. Suddenly Naruto found himself in a sewer system with a lot of rooms.

"Where the hell am I? And what is this place?" asked Naruto to one in particular.

Suddenly a cold chill ran down his spine as he felt fear unlike any he had through his life. The air in the place was filled with vile and animalistic sensation.

'Could this possibly be…' thought Naruto and walked towards the source of sensation hoping to find that his thoughts were wrong.

Finally he came to the place which felt like the centre of the sensation. It was a very large room which had walls on 3 sides and a huge gate on the fourth side. The gate had a paper in the centre with the kanji 'SEAL' inscribed on it. The sensation that Naruto felt had increased a lot. The sensation came from behind the gates.

Suddenly two big red eyes with slits in the middle came into his view.

'So I was right', thought Naruto and steadied himself to the dangerous presence in front of him.

"**So finally my host comes to meet me. Come closer boy",** said the Kyuu-bi moving its claws out of the gaps of the cage,**"So I can rip you to shreds."**

"I don't intend to die so early furball", said Naruto which earned an angered growl from the Kyuu-bi. "You know I leaned something interesting from Hokage-jiji the night I found I was your jailor. He said that the seal was designed in a way to make sure you would die along with me if I were to die. Since I am already here, why don't you let me use a bit of your chakra?"

"**You think you can handle my chakra, you pathetic human"**, said Kyuu-bi.

"No I don't think I can handle your chakra for now, but at least I can handle a bit of your chakra. It will come in handy in sticky situation", said Naruto.

"**Very well you can borrow a bit of my chakra"**, said Kyuu-bi.** "But remember well, when I get my chance I will take over your body. NOW GET LOST"**, shouted Kyuu-bi letting a huge burst of chakra forcing Naruto out of the mindscape.

(Next morning.)

Haku was currently gathering some herbs from the nearby area, when she spotted someone lying in the clearing in the forest. Haku decided to take a closer look at who it was. The person Haku saw there was one of the shinobis currently protecting Tazuna.

Slowly Haku's hand went towards the boy's throat. It was the sensei of this boy that had nearly killed Zabuza. It was not that Haku wanted to blame him for what his sensei had done. But the boy was the one who had helped out his sensei when he was trapped in Zabuza's _**Suirō no Jutsu **_(_**Water Prison Technique**_). It was a simple yet a very brilliant plan which the boy came up in an instant. Such an opponent would indeed cause them trouble in their next attack.

Haku's hand reached his neck, but even having the boy lay there ready to die, Haku couldn't do it. It was not in Haku's nature to kill someone, especially one who was so defenseless. Haku's hand moved from Naruto's neck to his shoulders gently tying to shake him awake.

"Wake up. If you sleep in such a place you will catch a cold", said Haku.

Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder gently shaking him and heard a soft voice calling him to wake up. When he opened his eyes he blushed a bit seeing the person in font of him. It was a young woman who looked to be maybe a year or two older than him. She had long dark brown hair, and chocolate brown eyes. She was wearing a pink yukata with blue floral designs on it. A small black choker was around her neck. She was currently smiling at him with a kind smile. Only one thought ran though his mind 'BEAUTIFUL'.

"Hello", was the only thing Naruto could say as he got up in a sitting position.

"Hello, the name is Haku" said the person in front of Naruto. "Not that it is any of my business, but it's not good to sleep in the woods during night time. You could catch a cold o some other infections."

"Don't worry about it, I never fall ill. I was training here last night", said Naruto. 'Well that's not a complete lie; I did come here to get some training done. But seems like I lost consciousness after meeting the Kyuu-bi' thought Naruto internally sighing.

"Are you a ninja?" asked Haku.

"Yes that I am. The names Uzumaki Naruto, genin of Konohagakure no Sato, DATTEBAYO", said Naruto standing up and punching the air. "Say what is a young beautiful lady like you out in the woods so early in the morning?" asked Naruto looking at Haku with a huge smile plastered over his face.

Haku was surprised by the blonde's words, "collecting herbs, the ones here have good medicinal uses and are better collected early in the morning." To which Naruto just nodded. "Say why do you train so much?" asked Haku.

Naruto was caught by the surprise question but still he answered. "Many reasons actually, to prove to my village that I am myself not something they assume me to be." while saying this, his hands subconsciously reached his stomach and for a brief movement his eyes reflected many emotions. Naruto quickly regained his slip in attitude.

Even though it was for a brief movement Haku had caught up to his act, his hand coming over his stomach and emotions in his eyes. To Haku the blonde's eyes spoke of untold emotions which the boy had hidden very well. There was a bit of anger and hatred but above all there was sadness and loneliness. For Haku it was like seeing in her own past but with more intensity.

"But this time around I want to prove to someone that Heroes do exist", said Naruto with eyes reflecting determination.

Haku was brought out the stupor in reflecting in the boy's eyes. After seeing the boy's eyes Haku only could smile at him. "Say do you have any precious people in your life you wish to protect?" asked Haku.

Without a single thought Naruto said, "Yes I do, they are one of the reasons I intend to grow strong."

"You will one day become very strong", said Haku with a smile on her face.

The smile caused Naruto to blush a bit more as a beautiful girl had just acknowledged him. But still he was confused by what Haku just said.

Haku saw the confusion and said, "You see, it is my belief that when someone intends to protect someone precious to them they truly become strong."

Naruto remembered the story told by Tazuna to them about Kaiza and now he understood what the girl in front of him meant. "I suppose I get it", said Naruto.

Naruto helped Haku in gathering the herbs Haku required. The two had small talks while collecting the herbs. The two seemed to enjoy each others company. The work finally finished and Haku decided it was time for her to leave.

"See you sometimes again Naruto-san", said Haku.

"Yes, I would also love to meet you again sometimes", said Naruto as he waved good bye.

"OH! I almost forgot to tell you, but I am a boy", said Haku.

But to Haku's surprise Naruto said, "I don't why you are lying, but it's useless. You see my sense of smell is rather good for a ninja, not better enough to identify people by their smell or track people. I can at least distinguish between a male and a female if I am to get close to them."

Haku was surprised at what Naruto said. She quickly got over her shock and said, "I just wanted to see your completely surprised look. But it seems it didn't work out as planned", and was sporting a genuine smile.

"Indeed", said Naruto.

The two left the clearing to their destinations.

(At Tazuna's house.)

Naruto entered the house to see all members present at the dining table eating breakfast. Naruto joined them on the table.

"Good timing Naruto, Tazuna-san was about to leave", said Kakashi.

"Sensei before we leave. May I have a word with you?" asked Naruto putting his hands over his stomach.

Kakashi caught the seriousness in his student's voice and where his hand went to. "Ok", said Kakashi with an eye smile.

All ate breakfast in relative silence. After breakfast Kakashi and Naruto left the house to a private area out of every ear's reach. Naruto told about his contact with the Kyuu-bi last night while he was trying to meditate. Naruto told Kakashi every single detail of his encounter.

Kakashi quietly listened to Naruto has he recalled his events of last nights encounter with Kyuu-bi. He was very proud of Naruto had handled the situation pretty nicely.

"Well from what I know, a Jinchūriki is capable of making contact with the bi-juu they host", said Kakashi. "But still I am not much knowledgeable in that department. We will talk with Hokage-soma when we return back to Konoha. Only if the situation gets tough to handle, only then tap into the Kyuu-bi's chakra."

"Yes sensei", said Naruto.

Naruto then went onto join Tazuna to the bridge. There he saw one of Tazuna's workers by the name of Giichi leave the job.

While on the road in the village did Naruto notice the state the village was in. There was a sense of poverty and hopelessness spread throughout the village. People looked liked they had been starved for days. As the two entered the market, Naruto saw the place hardly had any food in there. Outside on the way Naruto saw some kids begging, so he decided to share the little food he had with them.

"I knew you were doing something great", said Naruto surprising Tazuna, "but now I can't describe your efforts in words."

Tazuna smiled at the blonde's words and understood what he was trying to say. He smiled and said, "Someone has to it after all."

"Don't worry old man Tazuna leave your protection to us and you fearlessly continue with your work. I will stand to protect you no matter what, DATTEBAYO", said Naruto punching the air.

At the bridge Naruto helped Tazuna lending him extra hands. He created 10 _**kage bunshins **_which worked on the construction of the bridge by taking orders from Tazuna.

(5 Days later.)

It had been 5 days since Naruto first joined Tazuna to the bridge. Kakashi had completely recovered 3 days back and was now always there with Tazuna at the bridge. The other 3 members of team 7 had completed with their tree climbing exercise and were had been able to water walk a few minutes by concentrating. From yesterday the whole team had decided to be present at the bridge.

As for Naruto, he was finally able to use _**Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu**_ (_**Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique**_). He had also been able to combine the two jutsus with the help of a_** kage bunshin**_. He named it _**Kaze-hi konbo -en ryū uzu**_ (_**wind-fire combo - flame dragon vortex**_). He had also met with a Haku a couple of times and the two had been on great friendly terms. For Naruto it felt nice to be around a friend like Haku. He had also helped Tazuna in the bridge construction work as often as possible.

Last night Naruto had a shouted at Inari for trying to show them down [A.N. it goes as same way in the manga, the only difference Naruto comes alone to the house].

Currently Naruto was sleeping in one of the rooms in Tazuna's house. His team had decided to let him sleep as he had over exerted himself again. [A.N. the event from Naruto leaving the house in a hurry and coming back to save Inari and Tsunami happens the same way as in the manga.]

(At the same time, at the bridge.)

When Tazuna and team 7 (excluding Naruto) arrived at the bridge, they saw all the remaining workers were unconscious but at least not dead. The area was surrounded by thick mist. Quickly the 4 got around Tazuna in a protective formation.

'So he was alive after all' thought Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei is this…" came Hitomi's voice.

"Yes this is _**Kirigakure no Jutsu **_(_**Hidden Mist Jutsu**_)", said Kakashi. Hearing Kakashi's words the other 4 got a little as to what it meant and started shaking a bit.

"Long time no see, Kakashi", Zabuza's voice came from the mist around them. "Still hanging with the kids, and look they are even shaking. Tell me Kakashi where is the blonde brat I intend to settle things with him over the little stunt he pulled on me before."

As Zabuza finished speaking 6 Zabuza _**mizu bunshins **_(_**water clones**_) surrounded the 5.

END CHAPTER…

* * *

_JUTSU LIST;_

_**Suiton – ja no kuchi**_ (_**Water Release: Snake's Mouth**_): B-rank jutsu: This technique allows the user to generate a spinning column of water which will take the form of a snake with a gaping jaw. This snake can twist and follow its targets and swallow them. After it has swallowed them, it turns into a river that carries the enemy away.

_**Kaze no bōru o rasen-jō**_ (_**spiraling wind ball**_): B-rank jutsu: This technique allows the user to breathe wind-infused chakra into the palm of their hand, shaping it into a small, whirlwind-like ball. Then the user will shoot it at their opponent. This technique seems to be very fast and powerful, as it is capable of smashing through thick rock. They can be launched in rapid succession. [The jutsu is originally from Naruto Shippūden Episode #61 and is used by the hot kissing girl Fūka. I am making this Naruto's original jutsu.]

_**Fūton: Kami Oroshi **_(_**Wind Release: Godly Wind from the Mountain**_): B-rank jutsu: This technique creates a vortex of wind to blast at a target.

_**Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu**_ (_**Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique**_): C-rank jutsu: The user breathes fire along a cord or any other type of long object, which rushes forward in straight line catching the enemy on fire. The flames are meant to target, and assault the enemy's upper body just like a projectile weapon.

_**Kage bunshin**_: B-rank jutsu: This jutsu creates clones of the user. Unlike the Clone Technique, these clones are actual copies, not illusions. The user's chakra is evenly distributed among every clone, giving each clone an equal fraction of the user's overall power. The clones are capable of performing jutsu on their own and can even bleed, but will usually disperse after one or two solid blows. They can also disperse on their own. The clones will be created in roughly the same condition as the original.

_**Suirō no Jutsu **_(_**Water Prison Technique**_): C-rank jutsu: This jutsu is used to trap a victim inside a virtually inescapable sphere of water. The only downside to this technique is that the user must keep at least one arm inside the sphere at all times in order for the victim to remain imprisoned. This jutsu requires a sufficient amount of water. Despite the fact that the prison is made up entirely out of water, it is stronger than steel. Once trapped the target is unable to move while within it due to the heaviness of the water.

_**Kirigakure no Jutsu **_(_**Hidden Mist Jutsu**_): D-rank jutsu: This displacement technique is a specialty of the Ninja from Kirigakure, where one causes a mist to spring forth by lifting up some water, then goes in and out of sight at will from within the pearly-white realm. The mist's thickness is controlled by the amount of chakra kneaded into it.

_**Mizu bunshin **_(_**water clone**_): C-rank jutsu: The Water Clone Technique is similar to the _**Kage bunshin**_ except it creates clones out of water that have one-tenth of the original person's power.[2] Like other solid clone techniques, the clones can be used to perform tasks the user is unable or unwilling to do for themselves. The range of the clone is limited however, as it can not travel very far from the original body without losing control. Like other clone techniques, if the water clones are injured enough they will revert back to normal water.

_**Kaze-hi konbo -en ryū uzu**_ (_**wind-fire combo - flame dragon vortex**_): Will be explained in next chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

Hi readers, back with another chapter.

Thoughts : 'hi.'

Speech : "jerk."

Jutsus : **Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu** (when used), _**Mizu bunshin no jutsu **_(when mentioned.)__

Kyuu-bi speaking : **"I want to tear you into pieces"**

Kyuu-bi thoughts : **'World domination'**

Inner-Sakura : _'I am a jerk.'_

7: _The battle on the bridge._

When the six Zabuza's appeared around them, the hands of the genins quickly reached their kunais. Sasuke and Hitomi looked ready to attack the _**mizu bunshins**_ anytime.

"Do it", said Kakashi, to which Sasuke and Hitomi quickly attacked the _**mizu bunshins**_, each taking out 3 of the 6.

"My it seems you were able to figure out I was not dead and would come back to kill the bridge builder. Seems like you also trained those pathetic excuse of ninjas – your students", said Zabuza and came into the view of team 7 and along with him was the hunter-nin.

'As I thought the hunter-nin is his accomplice. This will be troublesome…' thought Kakashi.

"Let us see who is better? Your students or my tool", said Zabuza. The hunter-nin quietly stepped forward and looked ready to attack.

"Sasuke, Hitomi I want you to fight the hunter-nin. Sakura stand guard on Tazuna and try to find any attack pattern in the hunter-nins attack. I will keep Zabuza out of the fight", said Kakashi to which the three nodded.

Sasuke and Hitomi came up to the hunter-nin with their kunais at ready. Sakura took the front guard of Tazuna holding a kunai in a defensive position.

Kakashi quietly stood in his position calculating the situation. He knew that Zabuza would not interfere unless he was to jump in the fight. Sasuke and Hitomi were indeed strong for freshly graduated genins. The two were also good at working as a unit in any situation. But still the hunter-nin was a completely unknown quantity to him. The hunter-nin had avoided detection throughout his fight with Zabuza the first time. If he was to join the fight, he would have to take down Zabuza as quickly as possible.

The hunter-nin, Sasuke and Hitomi quietly stared each other down in silence. The silence was broken by the noise of shurikens cutting though the mist moving towards the hunter-nin thrown by Hitomi. The hunter-nin used a senbon to deflect the incoming projectiles with ease.

As the hunter-nin blocked the shurikens Sasuke charged at the Nin with a low punch trying to connect with an uppercut. He tried to connect the punch to the to the Nin's jaw. The Nin stepped back avoiding the punch but Sasuke quickly followed it by a kick to the hunter-nin's stomach. The Nin caught the kick and using Sasuke's momentum and threw him back towards Hitomi.

Sasuke steadied himself mid way and ducked as he heard Hitomi shout "**Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique)**". Three small fireballs raced towards the Nin who with an ease dodged them and faster than the 3 genins could see weaved through hand signs and called out "**Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Release: Violent Water Wave)**" shooting water from her mouth towards the Uchiha siblings. Both the siblings felt the full force of the attack.

"It would be wise of you to step down of the fight. I don't wish to kill you", said the hunter-nin.

"KILL US", Sasuke shouted as he got back to his feet. "We are the Uchiha's the elite and you think you some nobody can kill us."

"I don't like your attitude", said the Nin with a scowl. "Very well I will show you what I am capable of", said the Nin and moved towards Sasuke with increased speed.

The Nin quickly punched Sasuke with chakra enhanced fist. The punch connected with Sasuke's jaws and sent him flying. He landed close to Hitomi. The Nin quickly moved to deliver another punch before Sasuke could get up, but at the last moment stepped sideways as Hitomi slashed upwards with a kunai at the position the Nin was supposed to be at. As the Nin dodged the attack, it somewhat lost its balance. Hitomi tried to take the advantage of the situation and tried to injure the Nin with its kunai. But the Nin stopped the attack with a senbon of its own.

Sasuke steadied him self, after getting hit by the chakra enhanced punch. He saw the Nin was in deadlock with Hitomi tying to overpower each other. He quickly went through a few hand seals for his favored _**Katon **_jutsu. The move didn't go unnoticed by Hitomi and the Nin. The Nin quickly went though a few sets of one handed seals with the free arm. The Nin finished its seals before Sasuke could use his jutsu and called out "**Sensatsu Suishō (Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death)**" tapped the ground with its foot. The water that was spread around by the previous jutsu was raised up to 10 feet where it took shape of needles. The water needles with quickly descended on their two targets.

Sasuke quickly stopped inhaling for his jutsu and Hitomi stopped trying to overpower the Nin as the water needles were heading towards them. Both focused chakra to their soles of the foot as they did during tree climbing exercise and dodged the attack with ease.

'Amazing to be capable of doing one handed seals' were Kakashi's thoughts.

"We don't have whole day, do quickly finish it", said Zabuza in a stern voice looking over towards the Nin.

"Yes", replied the Nin.

The Nin formed a specific hand seal unknown to all but Zabuza. Suddenly the temperature around the bridge started to drop. The two Uchiha siblings stood close to each other watching each others back form whatever the Nin was up to. They heard the Nin speak out "**Makyō Hyōshō (Demonic Ice Crystal Mirrors)**", suddenly 21 mirrors made of ice surrounded the siblings. The Nin quickly stepped into one of the mirrors and the siblings saws as each mirror was occupied by the Nin.

(Outside the mirrors.)

"That's the _**Hyōton Kekkei Genkai**_", said Kakashi out loud.

"Yes that is Kakashi. Since she used that jutsu you brats won't stand a chance against her", said Zabuza. This worried Kakashi a lot and he decided to step in. "If you step in the fight Kakashi, I'll enter too and take away the life of the bridge builder", said Zabuza.

'Even if I use a shadow _**Kage Bunshin**_ he will counter it with his _**Mizu Bunshin**_. There is only one way out of this, I will have to end my fight with Zabuza quickly' thought Kakashi and lifted his hitai-te from over his left eye revealing the _**Sharingan**_. "Sakura defend Tazuna. Let's end this Zabuza."

Kakashi followed Zabuza further into the mist.

(Inside the mirrors.)

Hitomi and Sasuke were unable to keep with the continuous barrage of senbons which were coming from all directions. The two had tried to hit the mirrors with their _**Katon **_jutsus, but the mirror was unaffected by it. The two were now very low on chakra and were now drifting into unconsciousness.

'This doesn't look good o both of us' thought Sasuke as he took a glance at his sister who was looking like a cactus tree with all the senbons that had hit her. It was not as he was looking any better. 'FOCUS. FOCUS. This is no place to quit, not for myself but at least for my Imōto I got to get my act right.'

Suddenly Sasuke felt the world around him to slow down; he was able to see the movements of the Nin even though it was very little. He threw a kunai with all force he could muster hoping to get it nailed in the Nin's heart. But the kunai was only able to cut a small part of the area near the Nin's thigh.

The Nin was completely shocked at seeing the kunai thrown by the Uchiha hit her. The Nin at first tried to put it as just luck, but when it took a good look at the Uchiha boy a scowl escaped its mouth. 'This could be troublesome. I have to end this fight quick' thought the Nin.

Hitomi was also shocked to see the kunai being able to graze the Nin. As she looked towards Sasuke, she was shocked to see his eyes; they were no longer black but were red with two tomes in the right eye and one in the left eye. 'That is the _**Sharingan**_' thought Hitomi. "Aniki…"

Before she could say anything further, Sasuke saw a horde of senbon heading towards both of them. He had already realized by now that he could see the attacks coming, probably he had finally activated the _**Sharingan**_. But even still his boy couldn't react to the speed of the senbons. And there was his sister who neither had activated the _**Sharingan**_ no had the speed to counter the senbons. Only one thought ran his mind 'How am I going to save her?'

Suddenly an explosion caught the ears of all present on the bridge. As the senbons closed on the two siblings, the two heard a familiar voice call out "**Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)**" as a powerful gust of wind deflected all the senbons. A moment later a blur of yellow and orange came in the vision of Sasuke and the Nin who picked up Hitomi and fled outside through the broken mirrors. Sasuke also quickly followed suit.

(With Sakura)

Sakura had witnessed the first half of the fight between the Hunter-nin and her Sasuke-kun and Hitomi. As the fight started it was clear to all present that the Nin was superior to the two Uchihas and their combined teamwork. It was clear to her that it was hard for the two to keep in toe with the Nin. After Zabuza asked the Nin to keep stalling the fight the Nin used some kind of jutsu that trapped the two Uchihas in a dome. This even got Kakashi-sensei worried, who decided to quickly end his fight with Zabuza. Sakura wanted to help the two now trapped in the dome but it was as if her feet were rooted to the ground.

(With Kakashi)

[A.N. the fight with Kakashi and Zabuza goes on in the similar fashion as in manga chapter 26, till he comes to save Tazuna.]

(With Kakashi, Tazuna, Sakura and Zabuza)

As Tazuna and Sakura took a look behind them, they caught the sight of Kakashi with a large slash though his jounin vest and blood dripping from it, while Zabuza was standing in front of him with blood dripping from the _**Kubikiribōchō (Executioner's Blade)**_. Tazuna was too shocked to say a word while Sakura could only shout their sensei's name.

"What's wrong with you Kakashi? It seems you have started to become rusty in your skills or is it the worry for the two brats. Don't worry much about them, they probably should be dead by now and I will send you to there to meet with them. You can apologize to them all you want in afterlife", said Zabuza with a smug expression on his face.

Sakura was completely in shock thinking of the death of her Sasuke-kun and also Hitomi (a little), this didn't go unnoticed by Kakashi. "Sasuke-kun won't be defeated by some unknown Nin and neither will Hitomi", said Sakura as if praying. _'HELL YEAH!'_ shouted Inner-Sakura.

"Exactly", said Kakashi. "I believe in their strengths. Sakura here is the smartest kunoichi of her class. Sasuke and Hitomi are offspring's of Konoha's most outstanding clan."

"You mean…" said Zabuza but was interrupted by Kakashi.

"Yeah. Their names are Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Hitomi. Two genius ninjas with the advanced blood of Uchiha clan running through their veins", said Kakashi.

"The offspring's of that tragic clan…" said Zabuza with a raised eyebrow (even though he has none).

"And as for the blonde, he is one of the most unpredictable ninja I have met so far. He dreams of being the Hokage, and has great determination to come across any challenge", said Kakashi and putting some dramatic pause said, "His name is Uzumaki Naruto."

As Zabuza heard the name his both eyebrows were raised and eyes went wide. He had known of the Uzumaki clan of Uzushiogakure of Uzu no Kuni. They were one of the most feared clans throughout the elemental nations and were completely wiped out before the 3rd great shinobi world war. But to actually see a living Uzumaki shocked him.

"That doesn't matter. No one has defeated Haku's that special jutsu", said Zabuza with a frown. But suddenly the frown disappeared when he heard an explosion.

(With Naruto)

Naruto had woken up from his sleep at Tazuna's house to find that his team had already left for the bridge. [A.N. now the Tsunami kidnapping scene along with Naruto's rescue happens similar to the manga.]

After saving Tsunami from the bandits Gato ha sent, Naruto quickly made his way towards the bridge. He made a _**kage bunshin**_ to keep an eye on Tsunami and Inari. As he reached the bridge, he saw a thick blanket of mist cover the area. '_**Kirigakure no Jutsu **_(_**Hidden Mist Jutsu**_), so it seems Zabuza is here already' thought Naruto.

Naruto put his hands in a Hitsuji (Ram) seal and started focusing to find the chakra signature of his team. He was not a sensory ninja to begin with, but if he were to concentrate he was able to sense chakra signatures in nearest surrounding. He easily caught up to the signature of Kakashi and a similarly large signature as his probably Zabuza's, who were a bit far away in the mist. He also found out Sakura's chakra signature along with a civilian signature probably Tazuna's. By concentrating more he was able to sense the signature of the two Uchiha's along with another chakra signature. The chakra signature of the Uchihas was quickly fading away, while the chakra of the 3rd person with them was also fading but not at their rate.

'So Kakashi-sensei and the eye bow less freak Zabuza are fighting each other further in the mist, while Sakura is keeping guard over Tazuna. Hitomi and teme are probably fighting the fake hunter-nin and are in a tight spot' thought Naruto as he analyzed the situation. He moved towards the area where he sensed the Uchiha siblings as stealthily as possible, without making anyone see his presence.

As he got closer to the area he saw something like a dome made out of mirrors. The chakra signatures of the two Uchihas were coming from inside the dome. It seemed that the two were trapped in the weird jutsu of the Nin. He had to get them out of there as fast as possible. Knowing the two he already guessed that they must have tried every _**Katon **_jutsu in their arsenal and by looks of it none of them worked.

'That leaves me one option' thought Naruto. Naruto quickly went though a few hand seals and created a _**bunshin**_ of him self. The _**bunshin **_quickly made his way towards the mirror with Naruto keeping a good distance from it enough to have a look at the inside of the dome. As the real Naruto got close to the mirrors and saw the siblings about to be attacked he motioned the _**bunshin **_to do its job. Seeing the sign the _**bunshin**_ put his hand in a Hitsuji (Ram) seal and quietly spoke "**Bunshin Daibakuha (Clone Great Explosion)**" and it exploded shattering a few mirrors.

The real quickly weaved though 5 hand seals and inhaling air and said "**Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)**" and exhaling a powerful gust of wind knocking away the senbons headed towards his teammates. He quickly dashed in the dome in the confusion and carried Hitomi on his back and asking Sasuke to follow him. Naruto carrying Hitomi and Sasuke made their way towards Sakura.

(General view)

The 3 quickly made their way towards Sakura. When they reached there they saw Kakashi was there along with Zabuza. The Hunter-nin also made its way towards them and stood close to Zabuza. Naruto put down Hitomi close to Sakura. Kakashi was not glad to see the condition two of his students were in.

"Looks like the Uchiha are not so great after all", said Zabuza. The two Uchiha's wanted nothing more than his blood for saying something like this, but both could hardly move.

"Sakura look after Hitomi and Sasuke and remove the needles very carefully", said Kakashi glancing a look at Sakura.

Sakura quickly nodded, she couldn't believe the state Hitomi and her Sasuke-kun was. It was like they were on the verge of death with all the senbons pierced though their bodies.

"Naruto take care of the Nin, I will join you quickly the moment I finish with Zabuza", said Kakashi. The two, Zabuza and Kakashi again disappeared in the mist. The Nin and Naruto followed suit and jumped out of the bridge on the sea below for their battle.

(With the Nin and Naruto),

The two landed on the surface of the water and stood above it each with their battle stance. The two quietly seized each other and as of an unknown signal went off. The two dashed at each other with amazing speeds.

Naruto tried to connect a punch with his right hand to the face of the hunter-nin which the Nin blocked. The Nin went tried to deliver a punch to the stomach of Naruto which he blocked with his free left hand. He quickly elbowed the Nin in the stomach with his left elbow, at the same time the Nin kneed Naruto in his stomach. Both the attacks were enhanced by chakra and made both of them separated form each other from the impact as they both skidded across the water surface. The two then quickly went on to a _**taijutsu**_ battle. As the battle went on for a minute it was clear that the Nin was superior to Naruto in terms of speed, while Naruto's taijutsu was the better one. The Nin only used its hands to punch and legs to kick, while Naruto used all parts of body be it elbows, knees, hips to attack.

"Damn! You are good", said Naruto as the two separated from each other.

"The same goes for you, but it will better be to end this quick", said Haku as she was feeling a bit low on chakra because of the use of _**Makyō Hyōshō (Demonic Ice Crystal Mirrors)**_. She threw a few senbons at Naruto targeting his pressure points.

Naruto saw those incoming senbons and threw his own shurikens to counter it. But as he threw the shurikens and clapped his hands together and said "**Fūton: Reppūshō (Wind Release: Violent Wind Palm)**" and a powerful gale was created which increased the speed of shurikens. The shurikens easily tossed aside the senbons and headed towards the Nin. The Nin dodged a few but a cut appeared on its mask by one of the shuriken.

The Nin quickly formed a hand seal and said "**Hyōton: Tsubame Fubuki (Ice Release: Swallow Snow Storm)**". The water from the sea rose creating a cluster of needles in the shape of miniature swallows. They quickly headed towards Naruto who dodged them, but still was caught by one. But the swallows quickly changed directions and once again headed towards Naruto.

"What the heck is this jutsu", said Naruto out loud. 'That is a _**Hyōton**_ jutsu, so those are made of ice and can change directions and also hurt like senbons' thought Naruto. He quickly went through the hand seals of the only _**Katon **_jutsu he knew of. "**Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique)**" said Naruto spewing a dragon shaped fire towards the incoming swallows. The two jutsus collided and cancelled each other out.

He took a look at the Nin who was weaving through about four dozen of hand seals. Naruto recognized it has the jutsu that Kakashi-sensei and Zabuza used in their previous fight. It was really one powerful jutsu from what he had seen. So he quickly weaved through six hand seals for his strongest _**Suiton**_ jutsu. The two finished their hand seals about the same time.

"**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)**", called out the Nin and the water behind it rose to take a form of giant, powerful dragon.

"**Suiton: Ja no Kuchi (Water Release: Snake's Mouth)**", shouted Naruto as a spiraling column of water rose from behind him taking the shape of snake with gaping mouth.

The two jutsu headed towards each other and collided with each other in the space between the two. For a few seconds the two_** Suiton**_ jutsus struggled for dominance as the two ninjas put as much chakra into their jutsus. Finally the two jutsus cancelled each other causing a wave on the sea surface making the two loose their balances.

'This is not looking good for me, that Nin is clearly stronger than me. Guess I will have to resort to its chakra at some point, but I don't want to' thought Naruto and charged at the Nin with full force.

'My chakra reserves are quickly depleting, I need a bit of rest' thought the Nin. Seeing that Naruto came charging, the Nin quickly formed a specific hand seal.

As Naruto came upon the Nin with a chakra enhanced punch, he heard the Nin speak "**Hyōton: hogo kōri no dōmu (Ice Release: Protective Ice Dome)**". Suddenly a dome of ice was constructed all around the Nin; Naruto quickly took few steps back.

'The Nin seems to be buying some time for it self, for whatever reasons. It is better not to allow it the time' thought Naruto. As he quickly channeled chakra in the seal on his gloved bringing out some kunais and with the other hand removed some Kibaku Fuda (Exploding Tags) and attached it to the 4 kunais. He threw the kunais at the dome and as they got the closest he exploded them. As the water (they are on a water surface) and smoke cleared, Naruto could only grunt his teeth as the dome was unscathed by the explosion. Only one jutsu now came to Naruto's mind but it took a lot of chakra to perform. Looking at his options, he knew he couldn't let the Nin rest. So he decided to use the jutsu.

Naruto quickly performed his favorite hand seal and called out "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)**" creating a single clone of him self. The two of them quickly went though a few sets of hand seals. The most important part of this jutsu was to get the timing right. The both finished their hand seals together at the same time.

"**Fūton: Kami Oroshi (Wind Release: Godly Wind from the Mountain)**" said clone Naruto.

"**Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique)**" said the real Naruto.

The two jutsus went collided with each other and combined to form a vortex of dark blue flames with its front in shape of a dragon with red eyes. The real Naruto quickly put his hands together in Tora (Tiger) hand seal making the dragon move towards the dome. The two called out in unison "**Kaze-hi konbo: en ryū uzu (wind-fire combo: flame dragon vortex)**."

The dark blue dragon collided with the dome and tried to overpower it. The Nin was sure it wouldn't hurt its ice dome, but was shocked when the dome started to melt away. Soon the jutsu completely melted the dome and grazed the left side of the Nin's face that was able to dodge it.

'I have never felt such a powerful _**Katon **_jutsu and the heat it radiated was unbelievable' thought the Nin looking over the burnt part of the mask which was now loosely hanging.

At the other side Naruto was already on his knees and the _**kage bunshin**_ had already dispelled. 'Damn! It really takes a lot out of me to use that jutsu. Have to really put more practice in the jutsu after this' thought Naruto. 'Guess there is no choice but to use it' thought Naruto and got himself to his feet. He put his hands together (as if praying) and closed his eyes and focused 'Hey furball, mind lending me some chakra now.'

The Nin saw the situation with Naruto and quickly came to a conclusion 'that jutsu must have taken a lot out of him. Must end this now' and quickly performed a 3 hand seals and said "**Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Release: Violent Water Wave)**" and shot out water from its mouth in the form of a waterfall.

As the jutsu was about to make contact, suddenly red chakra seeped out of Naruto and engulfed him (the similar way the first time he used it to summon Gamabunta). The _**Suiton: Mizurappa**_ jutsu had no effect on Naruto has the chakra from the Kyūbi no Yōko Kitsune surrounded him like armour.

The red chakra that was now enveloping Naruto gave an uneasy feeling to the Nin. For years it had stood by Zabuza's side, fought countless enemies. But never in the life had it felt such a powerful _**Sakki (Killing Intent)**_. It was worst beyond anything and had an animalistic feel to it, yet seemed to be controlled by the blonde boy. Only one thought went through the Nin's min 'Just who are you UZUMAKI NARUTO?'

(Mean while with Kakashi and Zabuza),

After separating themselves from the others the second time, Zabuza and Kakashi were currently dead locked in the battle of kunai and _**Kubikiribōchō (Executioner's Blade)**_. Zabuza had already thickened the mist to the highest point, as to even the _**Sharingan **_was unable to keep up with Zabuza. Zabuza had kept the edge in the fight with his _**Muon Satsujin Jutsu (Silent Killing technique)**_. It was only because of the _**Sharingan **_eye was Kakashi able to dodge or block the incoming attacks and that to at the last moment. Suddenly both of them felt a very powerful chakra which had an animalistic feel to it.

'What's this Chakra… something's not right' thought Zabuza has the feeling of the chakra increased. 'Could it be Kakashi? … No it is too strong to be his.'

'This terrible chakra… it is the chakra of the Kyubi' thought Kakashi has he started to get worried. 'It's either the seal has weakened or Naruto is willingly using its chakra. I don't know which one it is? Either way he must be in trouble so I have to end this quickly.'

Kakashi removed a scroll from his pouch opening it he smeared his blood on the scroll and said, "Zabuza, can you hear me… neither of us has time to waste…this might not be your style. But let's end the fun… And finish this now" while wiping his blood on the scroll and holding in his hand with a Tora (Tiger) hand sign.

"Hmmp… what can you do in this situation? Show me Kakashi" came Zabuza's voice from the mist.

(With Sakura, Hitomi, Sasuke and Tazuna)

As Naruto and Kakashi left to fight Zabuza and the Nin respectively leaving Sakura tend to the injured siblings. Looking at the two Uchihas, Sakura was hard trying hard not to faint. The two had senbons pierced throughout their body, they looked as a cactus plant. The only reason Sakura found that they were alive because no senbon hit any fatal spot. Sakura couldn't believe the injuries the Nin had caused the Hitomi and her Sasuke-kun. Tazuna and Sakura started administering first aid to the two injured.

Sasuke not only looked like a cactus plant, he had nearly depleted his chakra reserves. It was hard for him to even stay conscious. The only good thing that happened during the fight was of him activating the _**Sharingan**_.

As of Hitomi was also looking like a cactus plant, but her chakra reserves were better than of Sasuke's. She wanted to go help her blonde teammate but knew well she could hardly stand. While Sakura was helping her was applying first aid, she tried to keep the tab on the fight between the Nin and Naruto. The two had jumped of the bridge and went on to fight on the water surface. She could hardly see the fight because of the mist. The only thing she was able to see though the mist was two big, powerful _**Suiton**_ jutsus collide and a silhouette of a _**Katon **_jutsu. But the thing that caught her most attention was what looked like a jutsu which created a dragon which was dark blue and probably was made of flames. 'I have never heard of dark blue flames cause by a _**Katon**_ jutsu' thought Hitomi.

Everyone was brought out of their individual thoughts when a powerful chakra spread throughout the bridge, which made everyone shiver.

(With the Nin and Naruto),

The Nin was trying to compose her thoughts over the red chakra that was now seeping out of the blonde. The Nin looked at Naruto steadying itself to whatever the blonde was going to do.

Meanwhile Naruto was trying to get a feel of the chakra of the Kitsune. He knew that the chakra of the Kitsune was potent and strong, but never had he felt so much chakra flow through him and this was only a fraction of the Kitsune's power.

Naruto forced chakra to his feet and shot himself towards the Nin who was currently distracted by the new developments. In a fraction of a second he was in front of the Nin delivering a powerful punch and then a kick to the Nin's stomach making it skid far on the water surface.

The Nin steadied itself shakily after the devastating punch and kick. It was already low on chakra and understood it couldn't continue any further. 'You are indeed powerful Naruto-san… Zabuza-san…' thought the Nin as the mask on his face started to crack and fall from the cut and burn. 'I am sorry Zabuza-san, I can not defeat him' was the last thought of the Nin as Naruto was above him with his fist pulled backwards to deliver a punch to the Nin. At the very moment the mask slipped of the face of the Nin.

As Naruto descended on the Nin with a full powered punch, he saw how helpless the Nin seemed now. He wanted to stop himself from attacking the Nin any further but to keep Tazuna-san safe he had to keep attacking and worst case scenario to kill him. As he was trying to decide to what he was to do, the mask of the Nin slipped of its face. Naruto stopped his punch mere inches from the Nin's face and a word came out of his mouth "Haku."

Haku looked up to see that the mask she put on had fallen and worst of all it was Naruto had seen her face. She couldn't form a word in her mouth. She tried to avoid his gaze.

"To think you were the enemy all along", she heard Naruto say.

When she looked at Naruto, she saw that his head was lowered and his eyes were covered with the bangs of his hair. She didn't need to look to see his eyes to know the sadness and anger he had now. The past few days had been great for her after she met Naruto the first time she had met him the forest. She had visited the clearing every day afterwards and surprisingly had found the blonde present there. She had been happy, happiness like this which she only felt three times after her parent's death. The two had struck a chord and she enjoyed the small time she spends with him. This was the very reason she was reluctant to attack the bridge builder.

The same thoughts of their time were running through the min of Naruto. Of all times in Konoha he had never been this content in his life with simply spending time with someone. He hardly had friends in Konoha. Even with kids of his graduating class he would hardly talked to any one or rather they avoided him. The condition with his team was similar. Only recently was he able to get in good terms with Lee and Tenten. But in font of him was a girl who he had met just a few days back and by now he could say he had made a first true friend.

"Your precious person you talked about…" said Naruto.

"Yes that would be Zabuza-sama, Naruto-san", said Haku as she was brought out of her musing by Naruto's words.

Just one question came out of Naruto's mouth, "Why?" his eyes still covered by his bangs.

Haku didn't understand what made her speak of it as it was the most touching subject to her. But still she went and told Naruto about her past. [A.N. you should know it by now.] As she finished her tale of her past a tear drop rolled down the Naruto's face as a sad smile graced on Haku's face.

"When I was young I had promised myself that I would never cry on anything", said Naruto as he lifted his head to show his face. A few tears were rolling own his eyes and still had the widest grin which formed a small tinge of red on Haku's face. "But it seems some promises are made to be broken", said Naruto has his gin widened more.

"Yes it seems so…." said Haku as her face turned redder as the gin on Naruto's face increased.

"How about you come with me to Konoha? You can pursue whatever dream you wish to. What do you say Haku-chan?" asked Naruto.

The redness on her face started to grow on a dangerous level with the offer Naruto made and 'ch… chan… he called me…' She decided to answer him but suddenly the mist in the area suddenly started to drop.

"Sorry Naruto-kun", said Haku with a sad smile on her face. She formed a specific hand seal and disappeared.

Naruto couldn't understand what just happened but the smile on her face unnerved him. He quickly focused in finding her chakra signature and the moment he found it he sped towards the place.

[A.N. The fight between Zabuza and Kakashi takes place in the similar fashion until Haku takes on Kakashi's _**Raikiri (Lightning Cutter)**_. The scene of Inari will also remain similar.]

Sakura, Hitomi and Tazuna (Sasuke is unconscious) were completely shocked as they saw a girl take Kakashi's attack to her heart meant for Zabuza.

"Is that the Hunter-nin", spoke Hitomi.

Kakashi could only watch in amusement as the girl took his _**Raikiri (Lightning Cutter)**_ meant for Zabuza. She had not only saved Zabuza but also dismissed his summons which was holding him. His eyes caught Zabuza as he was about to swing the _**Kubikiribōchō (Executioner's Blade)**_.

'He plans to cut through both of us' thought Kakashi.

"Good job, Haku" said Zabuza. "I SURE PICKED UP SOMETHING USEFUL! GIVING ME THIS FINAL CHANCE!" shouted Zabuza as he was about to cut through the two.

Before the blade could touch the two a foot was implanted on Zabuza's face from the other side. The kick had enough power to sent Zabuza stumbling across the bridge.

Kakashi took a look at his savoir and was happy to find it was Naruto. He was happy to know the blonde was safe and also seemingly the chakra of the Kitsune was no longer visible. But his happiness turned to shock as he saw the blonde's face or precisely his eyes. The happiness, mischief and the excitement that floated in his eyes like water in a waterfall were now replaced with eyes that were devoid of any emotions and were cold as ice. Kakashi saw a brief flicker of sadness in the eyes of his student as he placed the body down. He pulled own his hitai-te over his left eye.

Zabuza gathered himself from the kick and charged towards Kakashi and the one who kicked him. When he reached closer he got a look at the unknown attacker and flinched from the look in his eyes.

Naruto took a quick look at Haku which brought a sad smile on his face. He then looked at Zabuza's charging figure and went on to perform a sequence of hand seals. His hands moved through the seals in a sequence of Saru (Monkey), Tatsu (Dragon), I (Boar), Mi (Snake), Uma (Horse), Saru (Monkey) and finally settling on the Tori (Bird) seal. He inhaled air though his mouth and exhaled out the air after a second still holding the Tori seal. He called out "**Fūton: Hien no Jutsu (Wind Release: Flying Swallow Technique)**" as the exhaled wind took shape of swallows and headed towards Zabuza.

Kakashi saw his student weave through the six hand seals and used a jutsu which he had never heard of. 'What is this jutsu? Don't tell me another one of his original jutsu' thought Kakashi.

As the swallows closed on Zabuza, he tried to dodge them but was unable to. The swallows went to form cuts on his various body parts. When the jutsu ended Zabuza could hardly stand let alone hold his blade. His hands were hurt to the point where he could no longer perform seals.

Naruto took out a kunai from his pouch and was about to head towards Zabuza, when he was stopped by a hand placed on his shoulder. He looked to see it was his sensei.

"I will handle this", said Kakashi. Naruto just nodded knowing if he were to open his mouth he would argue to let him go kill Zabuza.

"How disappointing… You are getting your ass kicked" was heard by the three.

They looked towards the source to find a tiny, fat man along with about 50 bandits.

"Gatou, why are you here? And what's with all those men?" said Zabuza as he looked towards Gatou.

'So this is…' thought both Naruto and Kakashi.

Gatou went on to explain how he would use missing-nin to his benefits and later kill them [A.N. the same speech from the manga].

"Seems like our fight here is over Kakashi, brat. Now that I have no reason to go after Tazuna", said Zabuza.

Kakashi took a look at Naruto and found that his eyes to be still the same. But still he spoke, "guess you are right" and quietly sat down as he was feeling a bit of chakra exhaustion.

By now the mist had completely cleared and the remaining got a good view of things going on. All the four visibly flinched at the number of people they were seeing (Sasuke had gained consciousness).

'What's with all those people?' was the thought in the mind of the four.

As Gatou was taking a look at the people present on the bridge, his eyes landed on Haku's body. "It seems the bitch is dead. I wanted to be the one to kill her for squeezing my arm until it broke…" he said and suddenly a lecherous grin spread across his face "…Or maybe I could have made use of her wonderful body…"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt a stabbing pressure on his heart. He started to sweat and felt as he would puke any minute. He looked at the source of the feeling and found it to be the blonde haired boy. As he looked in to his eyes he visibly flinched as he looked into the cold blue eyes.

"Why… why aren't you saying something, Zabuza?" said Naruto as he focused his _**Sakki (killing intent)**_ solely on Gatou. "Didn't she mean anything to you?" as his tilted towards Zabuza.

"Shut up kid, Haku is already dead", said Zabuza. "As I was used by Gatou, I used Haku. That's all it was. In the shinobi world there are those who use and those who are used. We Shinobi are simply tools, al I wanted was her blood…" said Zabuza but was interrupted by Naruto.

"And as you say she gave her blood away for you. She chose your life over hers, even though she had a choice. I saw the last smile she had; it was not like the one's I had seen previously. To die as a tool, to die without a dream such a sad life. I wish to never be like that" said Naruto with sadness in his voice.

Naruto's words got a raised eyebrow from Kakashi and a loud laughter from Zabuza.

"So you were the reason she was happy for the past 5 days. This was the third time I saw her smile like that", said Zabuza with a long away look.

"You don't need to say any more …" said Zabuza as tears flowed down his eyes. "She was too kind; it pained her to fight others. She fought not only for me but also her enemy, finding a way to let them live. But today before we got here I could clearly see her conflict. I wish she could have chosen the other choice she had. You are right kid we shinobis are still human, we will never be emotionless tool. I've lost…" said Zabuza loud enough for all present to hear. "Kid, let me borrow your kunai."

Naruto tossed a kunai towards Zabuza who caught by his teeth. [A.N. it went similar as in the manga where Zabuza goes on a slaughter and Inari and villagers came to the rescue and Zabuza was brought near Haku (leave the Sasuke-Sakura scene).]

"Snow at this time of the year", said a random villager.

'Thank you for being by my side always' thought Zabuza as he was laid next to Haku. Suddenly he remembered something and removed a scroll from his pants and threw at Naruto who easily caught it with a questioning look.

"I told you of 3 times I had seen her smile. One was when I took him under my wing, the past few days she had with you and the time she worked on what is in the scroll. I don't think anyone better than you to have it", said Zabuza to which Naruto just nodded.

The snow fall kept on as tears came down Naruto's eyes. "She was bon in a snowy village", said Naruto.

"I see… She was a girl as pure as snow", said Kakashi.

"Yes that she was", said Naruto.

END CHAPTER…

**Jutsu lists: (I am only going to mention the original jutsus)**

**Kaze-hi konbo: en ryu uzu (wind-fire combo: flame dragon vortex): the jutsu creates intensity flames, a vortex of dark blue flames with shape of a dragons head in the front. The jutsu flames are more intense than the strongest of the KATON jutsus. (Why dark blue? Because I love blue and dark makes it awesome).**

**Fūton: Hien no Jutsu (Wind Release: Flying Swallow Technique): A-rank: it creates swallows which have great cutting edge to it. It can be controlled by the user. There are other uses to.**

_As __DudeZx__ has found out, yes Naruto is a bit lonely. There is a reason for this._

_As for skipping some parts in the story, it's simply because it's to boring to write and I want to end the pat which are repeated the most quickly. _


	8. Chapter 8

Hi readers, back with another chapter.

Now some of you are wondering whether I killed Haku o not? The answer to that question is sadly YES. No one is Uzumaki Naruto to survive a _**Chidori**_/ _**Raikiri **_shoved though their chest.

Thoughts : 'hi.'

Speech : "jerk."

Jutsus : **Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu** (when used), _**Mizu bunshin no jutsu **_(when mentioned.)__

Kyuu-bi speaking : **"I want to tear you into pieces"**

Kyuu-bi thoughts : **'World domination'**

Inner-Sakura : _'I am a jerk.'_

…

8: _Return to Konoha._

It had been about two weeks since the battle at the bridge. A few of the thugs who had come with Gatou that day tried to terrorize the village on a couple of occasions but the villagers made them run away. Even more people from the village helped in the completion of the bridge.

Meanwhile all members of team 7 had completely healed and were now ready to commence their journey back home. It had taken about 12 days for both Sasuke and Hitomi and 7 days for Kakashi to heal all their wounds. Sakura was completely unharmed in the battle while all of Naruto's wounds had healed up when he used the Kyuubi's chakra. A single nights rest was enough for Naruto to be completely healed from the fatigue he felt after using Kyuubi's chakra for first time.

Naruto had used the last two weeks mostly to train himself. Until Kakashi was still recovering Naruto would stay with Tazuna when he was working on the bridge. Even after Kakashi started to guard Tazuna after his recovery Naruto would join on the bridge from time to time. He continued to train using the daily routine though his main focus was to be able to use the _**Fūton**_ and_** Katon**_ combo without the use of a _**Kage Bunshin**_. He had taken a look at the insides of the scrolls and was impressed at what was sealed inside it. But training with it would have to wait until he got back to Konoha.

As for Naruto's teammates, Kakashi had quickly taken up guarding Tazuna even though there seemed no more threats to his life. Sakura had stayed by the side of the injured acting as a nurse for her Sasuke-kun and possibly Hitomi and Kakashi. Even after the recovery of the two Uchiha's she opted to stay by their sides. The 2 days the Uchihas were finally able to walk was used to gain control over their body functions.

(At a clearing in the woods.)

Currently all the members of team 7 were standing in front of two newly made graves. They were there to give their offerings to the two who were their enemies but had thought them a valuable lesson.

"Kakashi-sensei, were those two correct about ninjas?" asked Sakura.

"A shinobi isn't supposed to pursue his own goals, becoming the country's tool is the most important. That's the same for Konoha too", said Kakashi.

"I don't like it!" said Hitomi.

"You believed that too?" asked Sasuke as he looked over at Kakashi.

"Well, each and every shinobi has to live while dealing with the issue. Just like Zabuza an that girl", said Kakashi.

A silence fell in the area for a few minutes as all contemplated over the words spoken now. Mean while Kakashi's single eye drifted towards Naruto who had been silent throughout the conversation. The said boy had his eyes focused on Haku's grave as he seemed to be completely oblivious to the surrounding. Kakashi also knew the boy had visited the grave everyday.

Kakashi's opinion of Naruto had changed a great deal. Before the mission he thought of the blonde though skilled would not be able to handle such situations because of his pranks and somewhat carefree nature. But the blonde had proven him completely wrong.

Throughout the mission the blonde was the one out of the four who had remained the calmest. The blonde was also quick to analyze the situation and also had found out a way through it. The plans he used to save him from Zabuza and the Uchiha siblings from Haku were simple yet fully effective.

But it was the blonde's skills that had amazed Kakashi. The academy reports said him to be above average in terms of practical skills of shinobis as Kakashi had read them. But the reports had been proven completely wrong during the bell test; Kakashi marked his skills to be in par with the two Uchihas i.e. the best in their age group. But on this mission as he saw the young blonde fight and the jutsus he used, the boy was clearly way stronger than he had first anticipated.

"What are your thoughts Naruto-san?" said Hitomi drawing every eye present there towards her.

'When did she start calling him Naruto instead of Uzumaki?' thought Sakura and Sasuke. Kakashi smiled under his mask thinking 'it is good to see some one trying to bridge the gap between the team.'

"I had enough days to think over it", said Naruto taking a look at the graves.

"I AM GOING TO BE A NINJA IN MY OWN WAY! ONE WHICH WILL I BE PROUD OF! TTEBAYO" shouted Naruto pumping his fist in the air.

The outburst earned different looks from the four present there. Sasuke looked at him with a look which spoke 'You are an Idiot'. Sakura looked at him in complete confusion. Hitomi looked at him with a curious look and a small smile gracing her lips which she was not aware of. Kakashi looked at Naruto with a proud smile.

(At the bridge a week later.)

Most of the villagers along with Tazuna, Tsunami and Inari were present at the newly made gate on the bridge. The construction of the bridge had been finished yesterday and it had turned out magnificent. Today they were present at the bridge to bi good bye to the Konoha ninjas.

"Thanks to you we have completed the bridge, but this is super sad…" said Tazuna even though he was happy but also his words carried a bit of sadness.

"Thank you for everything", said Kakashi with a smile as Sasuke, Hitomi and Sakura nodded.

"Don't worry! We'll come to visit!" said Naruto with a big grin.

"You… better…" said Inari as he was shaking a bit and his eyes seemed like they were about to burst with tears.

Looking at Inari Naruto also started to shake a bit and his eyes become a bit watery, still he spoke in a teasing voice "Inari… you are sad right? It's alright to cry!"

"Fine, later…" said Naruto as he turned around and started to walk.

Sakura and Hitomi took a look at Naruto's face and then at Inari's face as they both had the same look. Tears flowed from both their eyes as a dam had exploded and also snot was oozing out of their noses. ''Geez… they are like twins!' thought the two.

It was decided by the villagers to name the bridge 'THE GREAT NARUTO BRIGE' as Tazuna said "That boy changed Inari's heart and Inari changed the heart's of the people. That boy gave us a bridge to 'HOPE' called 'COURAGE'. This name is in hope that the bridge will never crumble and one day will become a super famous bridge whose name is known throughout the world."

The journey of team 7 back home was uneventful. Kakashi kept his face buried in his orange book. Sakura kept asking Sasuke to come on a date with her when they returned to the village which he firmly denied. Sasuke for most of the part kept brooding or avoiding Sakura's date request while in a while he would talk to his sister. Hitomi and Naruto tried to start conversations with their teammates but the conversations would quickly end because of lack of topics.

It took 3 days for team 7 to reach Konoha; in the mean time Naruto noticed a lot of change of his team's attitude towards him. Sasuke who for most of his life ignored the blonde and only would look at him to tease him for his lack at something (academics, _**bunshin no jutsu**_ etc) was now shooting angry glares at him. Sakura was being Sakura, mimicking Sasuke an also trying to berate him at every small mistake while their way back home. As for Kakashi, he was busy reading his precious orange book throughout the journey but also calmly answered all his questions. The biggest change was Hitomi; the girl who mostly avoided him was now trying to strike a conversation with him and also would smile at him.

(The Hokage's office)

After reaching the village, Kakashi dismissed the team and asked them to go home and rest. At the Hokage tower he was joined by Naruto as both entered the office. There Kakashi gave a complete verbal report of things that happened since they left the village till their arrival back home.

The Sandaime Hokage was now massaging his head because of the massive headache he received in the form of the report. 'I had anticipated the mission information was falsified but to this extent I didn't know. The enemies the team faced were something for an ANBU. But to hear Naruto's progress and him being the key in the mission success, Minato-Kushina you would be proud of your son as I am now' thought Sandaime.

"Now Kakashi I would want a complete written report of the mission. I am promoting the mission from C to an A rank mission. You are dismissed for now Kakashi", said Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Kakashi just nodded and _**Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**_ to leave the room leaving only Naruto with the Sandaime.

"Now Naruto-kun, come with me in the sitting room. I want to talk to you…" said the Sandaime as he walked towards the other room asking Naruto to follow him.

The two entered a room which was used by the Hokage to have special talks with his advisors and various important people. The two sat on a sofa close to each other. There was a silence for a few minutes which was broken by Naruto's shaky voice.

"Is it about the Kyuubi?" asked Naruto, even though he knew he was not in any trouble but still the matter of Kyuubi was still sensitive in Konoha.

He felt the hand of the Sandaime on his shoulder being placed in a gentle manner. He looked up to see the smiling, wrinkled face of the Sandaime.

"It is about the young girl, Haku?" said the Sandaime. A silence again fell for another minute.

"I met her 5 days before the fight on the bridge. She had come in the clearing to collect some herbs. She seemed like a civilian to me. I helped her out and accompanied her until she left. She came by the second day again to collect some more herbs, this time she stayed longer. The next two days she came by just to talk. It was fun spending time with her; she was my first true friend. It was hard to see her dead body in front of me. I wanted to stop her but she had already chosen her life", said Naruto as a tear fell from his eye.

Even though the old man didn't show it, he was deeply hurt when Naruto called Haku his first true friend. He had tried his best to see that Naruto had a normal childhood but he knew well that he had failed at it. The blonde was only able to make a few friends at the academy, still he knew it well that the said friends were only on 'I-know-you' basis.

"Will you be alight, Naruto-kun?" asked the Sandaime.

"Yes I will be", said Naruto.

The two sat there in complete silence for a while. The silence was broken by a loud growling noise emitting from Naruto's stomach.

"Seems you are hungry, here take this as a gift from me as a job well done on the mission", said the Sandaime handing Naruto an Ichiraku ramen coupon.

"Thanks for this old man", shouted Naruto had he took the coupon and hurried out to his destination.

(The Ichiraku ramen stand)

Naruto was currently on his 12th bowl of ramen all the while telling Ayame and Teuchi about the wave mission. To say they were amazed was an understatement. They gave Naruto 3 bowls for free for helping out the villagers. The curtains of the stand moved to show the face of Kakashi Hatake.

"Hey! Kakashi-sensei here to eat some awesome ramen?" asked Naruto to his sensei.

"No, I am here to talk to you", said Kakashi with a small hint of seriousness which Naruto caught on to.

Naruto quickly finished the bowl along with the two more he had ordered and paid for them. Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder and use the _**Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**_.

(Training ground)

The two were now sitting facing each other in the training ground assigned for their team.

"Now tell me Naruto, why you think I was assigned as team 7's jounin-sensei?" asked Kakashi.

"First I thought it must be because you were the student of the Yondaime…" said Naruto which caused a raised eyebrow from Kakashi and an expression which said 'Explain'. "Since you are the Yondaime's student you would be more knowledgeable about the seal on my stomach", explained Naruto.

"OH! I see", said Kakashi.

"Second you being one of Konoha's strongest jounin was asked to train Hitomi and teme. After knowing you posses the _**Sharingan**_, this seems to be the main reason", said Naruto.

"Yes, that's the real reason. Now when news reaches the council ears that Sasuke has awakened the _**Sharingan**_. They will order me to train him in its use and also help Hitomi awaken the _**Sharingan**_" said Kakashi. "So I won't be able to focus on you and Sakura, so I decided to hand some scrolls for you to learn from."

Kakashi handed about 4 scrolls to Naruto. "This scrolls contain a few useful jutsus. Most of them are _**Suiton**_ and _**Fūton**_ jutsus with some other which you will find useful. There are also a few _**Katon**_ jutsus if you wish to learn more. Ask me if you have any questions?" said Kakashi.

Naruto had his eyes replaced by stars as he looked at the scrolls in his hands and was somehow able to mutter a "Thank You".

(In his parent's house)

After the talk with Kakashi, Naruto decided to go visit his parent's house. There he stayed the entire night in front of the frame telling the two of the wave mission.

He just couldn't understand what he was supposed to do. Haku was his first true friend and losing her had hurt him greatly.

He didn't know how many hours he had sat there as time seemed to be stopped for him. He brought out the scroll that Zabuza had presented him and unsealed the item in it.

The item was a simple katana whose blade was pure white and the handle was blue. The note that was along with it mentioned it to be made of the finest chakra metal Zabuza had got his hands on. To normal eyes it was a simple yet beautiful katana, but to Naruto it signified the bond between Zabuza and Haku. [I am not good at describing katana so don't ask me any questions about how it looks.]

Naruto decided to stay in the house for the night.

(A week later)

The week after the return to Konoha had been the most uneventful for team7 as they were given a break for the week. Each member had decided to spend it as per their wishes. As for Kakashi he had started training Sasuke and Hitomi while also including Sakura, Naruto mostly trained on his own.

Finally Naruto had decided to join team Gai in their morning training session. Gai had heard of the wave mission as it was currently the topic on every shinobi's mouth as of how a team 7 had taken on Zabuza a former member of **Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū (Seven Swordsmen of the Mist)** and his apprentice. Gai asked Naruto of his adventure/mission at Nami no Kuni. Naruto went on to tell Gai all about the mission leaving the part which concerned Haku. After he finished with the tale team Gai was silent contemplating over it.

"YOSH! NARUTO-KUN YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH TRULY BURN BRIGHTLY!" shouted Gai breaking the silence to which his team could only agree.

"And as a reward of performing such a courageous deed I feel you are now worthy of learning the move I intended to teach you", said Gai.

The three young genins of team Gai were confused as what was that Gai-sensei had decided to teach Naruto and which he was now worthy of. It seemed like Naruto also had the same thought as he voiced his question.

"What move?"

"_**Omote Renge (Initial Lotus)**_", said Gai.

As Gai named the jutsu shock was evident on the face of the four young genins. Team Gai remembered the day when Gai-sensei had decided to teach them that was when he had acknowledged them as true shinobis after a very odd mission. The said mission had turned a bit nasty than it was supposed to but still they decided to continue to do what was the right thing to do in Gai-sensei's opinion.

'He sure has earned Gai-sensei's respect' thought Tenten and Neji.

"YOSH! NARUTO-SAN YOUR FLAMES FROM LEARNING THE MOVE WILL BURN BRIGHTER THAN EVER!" proclaimed Lee.

"THAT'S THE SPIRIT LEE, YOU SHOULD ALWAYS CHEER ON YOUR COMRADES", shouted.

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

The two went on to hug each other which created a genjutsu of a beach at the time of sunset behind them. Even though the remaining three were accustomed to it, that didn't mean they had to like it.

"Even how many times I see it, I will never get accustomed to this", said Naruto as he tried to shield his eyes from the view. The other two could just agree to it.

"Think about us, we are witness to this for about a year and they are our teammates", Tenten added her thoughts.

(2 months later)

It had been 2 months since the Wave mission and team 7 had hoped the mission never ended. For the past two months they kept on doing D-ranks though some turned out interesting still they were stupid chores in their eyes.

Currently the team had just returned from one of those said chores. Looking at the team one would think as if the team had come back from fighting another missing-nin. It was indeed a great fight, but one to capture run away pigs at a farm and that was their worst mission. On second thought there was the mission to capture the demon cat Tora.

As Kakashi looked at his team, a smile appeared on his face. The team was getting along well; the teamwork between them had definitely improved. But what concerned him was Naruto; he clearly saw that the death of Haku had affected the boy. Sandaime-sama had told him how Naruto considered the girl his first true friend.

Suddenly Kakashi's eyes looked to the sky where he saw a hawk fly by. He had an idea of the sudden meeting and knew it was going to be a head ache to him.

"Ok, that's enough for today. I have to go submit this missions report…" said Kakashi as he used _**Shunshin**_ to reach his destination.

As the four were about to leave to do whatever they thought of, their eyes fell upon a square-shaped rock. Hitomi, Sakura and Sasuke couldn't understand what to think of it but they knew their fourth teammate knew exactly what was going on.

As for Naruto he quietly walked around the area while the square rock followed him. After about a minute he stopped in his track as the rock did the same barely tackling him. He quietly walked over to the rock and sat on it. After a minute the rock burst and was replaced by three children wearing goggles similar to those which Naruto wore before graduation.

"That was mean Oyabun (boss)", said the three together.

"Well I did have fun!" said Naruto with a grin.

The three pouted at the statement while the other members of team 7 watched on the scene unfolding before them.

"By the way, why are you guys here?" asked Naruto to the three.

"WHAT!" the three shouted in unison.

"You promised you would play ninja-ninja with us", said Moegi.

"Now that you say it, I remember promising to you to play with you", said Naruto which caused smiles to appear on the three young faces.

"What are we waiting for, let's go! TTATEBAYO!" said Naruto as he started walking of with the kids behind him.

Meanwhile the other three members just looked on in confusion at Naruto and the kids. Hitomi had a raised eyebrow while Sasuke muttered 'Pathetic' under his breath. Sakura heard the word escape out of Sasuke's mouth and decided to get in his good books.

"What kind of ninja plays ninja-ninja?" she said out loud.

Naruto and the three kids stopped in their tracks and looked at Sakura. Naruto had a look that spoke 'isn't it obvious' and said pumping his chest with his fist and said, "THE BEST!"

Hitomi was trying her hard not to laugh while Sasuke just muttered 'Dobe'. Sakura's face by the comment had flushed red by anger. She wanted to earn points in Sasuke's book by berating Naruto but he pulled one on her.

Meanwhile the kids considered Sakura's red face in a different perspective. They looked at Naruto and then Sakura and back at Naruto. It was Konohamaru who voiced the thoughts for the three of them.

"Not bad bro, she is your's…" Konohamaru trailed his sentence showing his pinkie finger indicating girlfriend.

"No she isn't", said Naruto quickly dismissing the train of thoughts of the kids. "I don't even want to know what gave you that idea."

"You are right bro that other girl is far more beautiful than the pinkie", said Konohamaru which was backed by the other two.

The girl in question – Hitomi had a small blush as the kids called her beautiful. Also there was the fact they indirectly said that they would like to see her as Naruto's girlfriend.

Konohamaru continued, "And she also has such a giant forehead…" but was stopped in mid sentence as he felt a malicious aura directed towards him.

Every person there felt the aura and looked at the source of the aura to find it to be Sakura. The three genins of team 7 knew well that Sakura's forehead was a sensitive matter for her since they were in the same class throughout the academy.

"Run…" said Naruto as he looked at Konohamaru.

It took a minute for the said boy to register what Naruto told him, but the moment he did he made a mad dash for his life. Sakura quickly followed the brat in hopes to thrash him.

Moegi and Udon were both worried for their friend as the pink haired girl seemed as if she wanted to murder him. They looked towards Naruto and then the two who just ran and back at Naruto.

"Please Oyabun! Help Konohamaru-kun", said Moegi with puppy-dog-eyes while Udon just stared at him.

Naruto couldn't bear the looks of the two kids "FINE!" he shouted and ran in the direction of the two. The two kids quickly followed him.

Meanwhile the Uchiha siblings just watched the entire thing unfold in amusement. Sasuke was annoyed by all of this while Hitomi on her end was unable to control her laughter at it and started giggling. The two looked at each other and by twin-connection decided to follow the group.

Naruto and the two kids arrived at a scene where they saw Konohamaru in the hands of a Suna shinobi while Sakura was trying to apologize saying it was her mistake. Naruto didn't like the Suna Nin's attitude as he didn't even sop when his possibly teammate asked him to let the matter go.

"Hey Fatass! If you don't let my friend go, you will regret it", said Naruto as the eyes of the three Nin's darted towards him.

Temari looked at the boy who called Kankuro fatass and thought 'he is cute…' as a blush appeared on her face. Sakura was for once in her life relieved to Naruto.

"How dare you call me fatass?" Kankuro asked in an enraged and annoyed tone.

"It's just that I hate midgets, especially younger one's those who are rude", said Kankuro and then looked towards Konohamaru and continued "Makes me want to kill them."

This had a great effect on Konohamaru who was now sweating and shaking with fear. Moegi and Udon were also in the same condition as Konohamaru.

'What's with that guy? This is bad' Sakura thought as she was also starting to sweat.

"Oh well, I am not involved…" said Temari with a sigh.

"And I kill those who hurt my friends", Naruto said in a cold voice.

Shivers ran down the spine of the ninjas present as they looked at the source of the voice. They found Naruto standing behind Kankuro with a kunai pressed against his throat. But the shiver increased as they looked into Naruto's eyes as it turned from ecstatic ocean blue eyes to cold ice blue eyes.

'When did he move?' thought both the Sabaku siblings.

"Now release Konohamaru or I will do what the kunai in my hand is meant to do", said Naruto again in a cold voice.

Kankuro quickly released Konohamaru as the young boy made his way towards his friends. He was visibly shaken by the blonde boy's voice as he remembered it was similar to his brothers.

Naruto used his speed to move directly in front of the kids and was about to walk off, when he heard Kankuro call him.

"You dare don't walk on me Blondie, I am going to kill you", said Kankuro as his hand moved towards the white bandaged packet at his side.

"Hey you even going to use Karasu?" asked a surprised Temari.

"So the cat jumpsuit-make up wearing ninja from Suna going to play with his puppets", said Naruto as he looked at Kankuro with a grin.

'He knows!' thought the now surprised Temari and Kankuro.

As Kankuro was about to unravel the bandages over the puppet a stone struck his hand. He looked to the place where the stone came from to find a black-duck ass haired boy sitting on a tree branch as he rolled stones in his arm. Kankuro scowled at him.

Sakura looked at Sasuke with stars in her eyes 'Sasuke-kun' she thought. 'Chaa! Sasuke-kun is going o show all of them who is the boss' said Inner Sakura.

"Mah! I was wondering when your brother – the teme and you were going to show. Now I understand he was waiting for the right moment to show off", said Naruto to Hitomi who came to stand by his side. She had an apologetic look on her face.

"Kankuro stop it", everyone heard a voice filled with malice and looked up to find a red hair with a gourd on his back standing upside down in a branch closer to Sasuke. "You are an embarrassment to our village", he further said

'I didn't even sense him. That's Kakashi's level sneakiness' thought Sasuke.

The kids and Sakura were clearly shaken by the new person and even Hitomi seemed a bit hesitant. The two Suna shinobis were now sweating heavily and also shaking in fear. His caused Naruto's eyebrow to raise a bit.

"Loosing yourself in a fight how pathetic. Why do you think we came to Konohagakure?" continued Gaara.

"Listen Gaara they started it, especially the blonde", said Kankuro as he looked towards Gaara as he pointed towards the three kids and Naruto.

The kids started to sweat and shake in fear of what was going to happen to them. They quickly got as close as possible to Naruto latching on to his legs.

Naruto for his part looked bored. He looked at the kids as they latched on to his legs and could see the fear in them. He put his hands in front of them as if shielding them which relaxed the three kids.

Only three noticed this action, two of them being Temari and Hitomi while third being Gaara who made it look like he didn't notice it.

"Shut up or I'll kill you", Gaara said to Kankuro.

Kankuro was now shaking even harder and sweat on his forehead increased greatly.

"Ok, I am sorry… really-really sorry", said Kankuro.

'So this one's the leader, he has strange eyes…' thought Sasuke looking at Gaara.

"Sorry to you guys", Gaara said as his eyes for the first time landed on the Konoha genins and kids.

He used _**Suna Shunshin**_ to appear in front of his team. Before he used the jutsu his eyes darted first towards Sasuke. 'To be able to hit Kankuro with a stone, he is good' thought Gaara about Sasuke. His eyes next towards Naruto and a scowl appeared on his face.

"It looks like we came here early but we didn't come here to play around. Let's go" Gaara said to his team and they stared to walk away.

"Hey, Wait!" Sakura called out to the three. They sopped and looked at Sakura.

"What?" Gaara asked.

"Judging from your hitai-te, you guys are ninjas from Sunagakure, right? You may be allies of Konoha but it is forbidden for shinobis to enter each other's village without permission", said Sakura.

Naruto just rolled his eyes at the things know-it-all-Sakura ranted. 'Isn't it obvious if they are in the village in public presence without disguise, they must have permission' thought Naruto.

"State your purpose. Depending on it, we may not be able to let you go…" Sakura said with a serious face.

Hearing Sakura say this, Naruto was hard pressed from holding his laughter back. Moments earlier she was scared shitless and now she was trying to intimidate the people who scared her.

"Hah, talk about clueless. Don't you know anything?" Temari said showing her pass.

"You are right, we are genins from Suna. We have come to your village to take the chuunin selection exam", Temari continued.

"Chuunin selection exam…" Naruto said even though he knew what the exams was it seemed interesting to continue the conversation.

"Geez, you really don't know about anything. The chuunin exam is where outstanding genins from Suna, Konoha and other villages assemble to take the exam to become chuunin", said Temari.

"Why do we take it together?" asked Naruto.

"The main purpose is said to be to improve relationship between the allied and to raise the shinobi level. Also each country likes to maintain a power balance and…" continued Temari but stopped when she looked that the blonde who asked her was not paying attention.

"HEY KONOHAMARU! Think I should enter the chuunin exam?" exclaimed Naruto in an excited manner to Konohamaru who was also excited at the aspect.

"You Bastard! You asked the question listen till the end!" Temari shouted pointing at Naruto.

Naruto looked at her with a neutral expression and said "You say something."

Everyone face faulted at this while Gaara raised his eyebrow. In case of Temari, a huge tick mark appeared on her forehead and her face flushed red in anger as she pointed her finger at Naruto but no words came out of her mouth.

Naruto just snickered at Temari's reaction and said "I am good."

When Temari heard this, her face turned so red in anger that it overshadowed her blonde hair. Her whole body was shaking with anger as she was pointing at Naruto.

"Well its time we leave kids. We still have to play ninja-ninja", Naruto said as he caught the three kids and used _**Konoha Shunshin**_ to disappear with the kids.

The 5 out of the 6 ninjas just stared at the place where Naruto was with pure disbelief.

Temari meanwhile was so angry that even Gaara stepped away from her. "I will get you for this Blondie", she shouted.

[A.N. the meeting of all jounin-sensei's takes place the similar way as in the manga only add Hitomi's name to Kakashi's list.]

(The next day)

Today had been a weird day as Gai told him that he had entered his team in the chuunin exam as so did Kakashi. It would be good that each team keep their training secret from now on.

Naruto was now currently waiting at the meeting spot and was meditating while practicing to grasp the flow of wind around him. As always Kakashi was late and Sakura was furious, well apparently all were.

Finally Kakashi arrived two hours later and Sakura shouted at him for his tardiness. Most of the time he would join her but today he kept quite in anticipation. He wanted to see when Kakashi would decide it was time to tell them that he nominated them for the exams.

"This is sudden but I have nominated you guys for chuunin selection exams", Kakashi said handing them permission slips.

Naruto looked at his team mates to find the siblings to be ecstatic at the prospect while Sakura seemed a bit down.

"Though I just nominated you, whether to take the exams is up to you. Those who wish to enter should sign those papers and submit them at room 301 in the academy by tomorrow at 4 pm", said Kakashi and he left with a _**Shunshin**_.

Naruto also quickly left as he was really tired from last nights training.

(Chuunin exam day at the academy)

Team 7 met in front of the academy where they decided to meet when they submitted the slips. Naruto could tell Sakura still had doubt about entering the exams. The team made their ways upstairs to find some genins bullying a team.

Naruto recognized the gennins and snickered. 'Never thought they would be such good actors/actress' thought Naruto.

"We are just thinning out those that will fail anyways. What's wrong with that?" said one of the bully ninja.

Naruto decided to ignore everything and walk to his destination. But he stopped in his track when he heard Sasuke speak.

"I agree, but you will let us pass through…" Sasuke said with an arrogant smirk on his face.

"Also remove this surrounding created with genjutsu. We are going to the second floor", said Hitomi.

All present ninja looked at team 7 thinking what they were talking about or had they gone mad.

"So you noticed…" bully ninja 2 said.

Sasuke just smirked and said, "Sakura you must have noticed it first right?"

Sakura just looked at him in confusion until Hitomi spoke.

"Your analytical skill and genjutsu know-how is the most improved on the team", said Hitomi.

Sakura realized what the two were doing and had a small smile even Naruto was happy seeing the event.

"Of course I noticed a while ago. This is actually the second floor", Sakura said with a confident look on her face.

The genjutsu that was place in the surrounding dissolved revealing the room to be room 201 not 301.

"Hmm… Not bad but all you did was… NOTICE THROUGH IT!" said bully ninja 1 as he moved in with a kick at Sasuke.

Sasuke also decided o match the kick with his kick. Naruto decided to better stop this but before he decided to move he saw a figure move in between the two kicks.

'So he finally decides to drop the act' thought Naruto.

Sasuke, Sakura and Hitomi just watched in awe as the green clad ninja that was being bullied just stopped the two kicks with his bare hands.

'He is fast… he was able to see both the kicks and slide between them…' thought Sakura.

'Catching my kick with his hand, what's this chakra in his hands?' thought Sasuke.

'Not only is he fast but his eyes can keep up with high speeds. Also caching the kicks with his hands, he is strong' thought Hitomi.

Hitomi looked towards her blonde teammate to look at his reaction but to her surprise he was smirking. She watched as he quietly moved towards the green clad ninja's teammate, the kunoichi to be specific.

"Never thought you would guys would do such a drama. It was entertaining and you guys were quite good if I must say", said Naruto in a low whisper which was only heard by Tenten. The said girl just smirked.

Meanwhile Naruto looked to see Lee asking Sakura to go out with him which she denied to. He saw a small verbal confrontation between Neji and Sasuke which he didn't care for.

"Sasuke-kun, Hitomi-chan, Naruto! LETS GO!" called out Sakura.

Hitomi pulled Naruto with her as she and Sasuke were being pulled forward by Sakura. Hitomi spared a glance at Naruto as she thought 'How does he know that team?'

Naruto for most of his part avoided team Gai as they had decided. It would be better to show there was no connection between them fooling enemy teams and would come to help in need surprising other teams.

As they walked the corridors they stopped as they heard someone call out to Sasuke. Naruto knew that voice and just wondered what he was up to.

"Hey, guy with the dark eyes", called out Lee.

Team 7 turned around to find the green clad ninja standing there.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"Will you fight me right here", said Lee with a serious face.

Naruto decided to step in a corner and watch what would unfold from all this. He watched as Lee introduced himself to Sasuke and once again tried and failed to woe Sakura. He watched as Sasuke decided to fight and asked Hitomi who wanted to stop him but reluctantly agreed on his convincing.

Naruto watched as Sasuke charged at Lee with arrogance and had o stop quick has Lee disappeared from his line of vision using his superior speed. He watched Lee take down Sasuke with _**Konoha Senpū (Leaf Whirlwind)**_.

"Sasuke there is no need to fight", called out Hitomi.

"I won't loose. This gives me a chance to practice it", said Sasuke with a smirk as he got up.

Hitomi knew of her brother's ego so let it continue. Naruto watched in amazement has Sasuke activated the _**Sharingan**_. Both eyes now had two commas 'So his _**Sharingan**_ got better' thought Naruto.

Naruto looked at Sakura as she looked at Sasuke as if he was Kami born on earth. She seemed to believe that he would win now that he had those eyes.

He watched as Sasuke charged at Lee but was airborne before he knew. Lee used _**Kage Buyō (Shadow of the Dancing Leaf)**_ to get behind Sasuke. He went on to tell Sasuke about his jutsus and the so profound weakness of the eyes that Sasuke possessed.

"… THAT HARDWORK SURPASSES GENIUS" said Lee out loud as he uncovered his bandages completely.

Naruto looked on the worried faces of his teammates and he was worried to. He knew what jutsu Lee was about to use and that didn't look good for both Sasuke and Lee. He had to stop this and there was only one jutsu which would help him now. 'Guess it will not be my trump card anymore' thought Naruto as he decided to move in. But as it is Naruto has the devil's luck and so it came in to play. Gai-sensei's summon appeared and stopped Lee.

Hitomi and Sakura quickly ran towards the falling Sasuke and captured him from hitting the ground.

"Are you alright Sasuke-nii/kun" said Hitomi/Sakura in worry.

Naruto walked up to Sasuke as he saw his team confused as to what the turtle was and how come he was lecturing Lee. And worse was that Lee was attentively listening to it.

"You sure got your ass kicked", said Naruto as he looked at Sasuke.

Sasuke scowled and was about to retaliate but stopped to look at the source of the sudden shout so did Hitomi and Sakura.

"GEEZ! YOU GUYS ARE THE EPITOME OF ADOLESENCE!"

As Sakura, Hitomi and Sasuke looked at the new arrival their faces took a look that spelled horrible. Only one thought roamed their minds the person's eyebrows were **HUGE**. They watched in horror as the man called Lee closer to him and delivered a powerful punch to him.

Naruto looked at the two people he had come to know and respect. He saw Gai punch Lee and saw Lee apologize, he knew what was coming now so he quickly turned around. As on cue he heard his teammates horror filled shouts.

After 5 minutes he turned to look to find Gai lecturing Lee and they go on to make their stupid tasks. He looked at his teammates and found a look of horror etched on their faces. 'Bless their souls. I am lucky o be saved by Ramen-Gods from the sunset' he thought.

"Hey you guys, how is Kakashi doing?" asked Gai to team 7.

"You know Kakashi", asked Sasuke as the three were brought out of their shock by Gai's question.

"Know him…" said Gai as he vanished from his spot.

"People refer to us as 'Eternal Rivals'…" said Gai from behind them.

Team 7 except Naruto was in shock at the man's speed. Gai went on to tell them how he was stronger than Kakashi and told them to make their ways towards the main room. He wished Lee luck and also Naruto in a whisper which only he could hear.

Lee told them the reason he was here was to test his abilities. He had lied to them of him being the strongest gennin; apparently the strongest gennin was on his team. He wished to fight him and also Sasuke. His eyes for a moment landed on Naruto who grinned back and he left.

The last act didn't miss Hitomi's eyes. 'He indeed knows the team and its members' she thought.

Naruto looked at Sasuke who looked a bit down, that was not good for Sasuke himself and the team.

"You sure got your ass kicked", said Naruto again.

"Next time I will win", said Sasuke with anger in his voice.

Sakura was enraged at seeing Naruto berate her Sasuke-kun while for some reason Hitomi remained quite.

"You saw his hands too, didn't you?" said Naruto as an image of Lee's bruised hand came in to the minds of Sasuke and Hitomi.

"That bushy-brows must have trained really hard… everyday. More than you", said Naruto as it was a fact.

Sasuke was now shaking violently but Naruto and Hitomi knew it was not in anger but excitement.

"This thing is getting fun, this chuunin exam…" said Sasuke.

"Yes", said the remaining three as smiles spread across their faces.

"Ready to go! Hitomi, Sakura, Naruto!" said Sasuke out loud.

As they made their way towards room 301, Hitomi inched closer to Naruto.

"Thanks! He needed it", she said in a whisper to him.

"Don't mention it", he replied.

(Room 301)

As team 7 reached they saw the room they found Kakashi waiting by the door. Kakashi saw all his team come by the hall way and was pleased by it.

"Good to see all of you came…" said Kakashi.

"What do you mean Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura.

"You see the chuunin exams is a team event and not an individual event", said Kakashi surprising the four.

"But you said taking the exam was an individual choice", said Hitomi a bit annoyed.

"You lied to us?" asked Naruto in an annoyed tone to.

"If I did tell you the truth, the one who didn't wish to join the exams would be pressured by the others to join. Since you all came I am proud of all of you", said Kakashi with an eye smile.

The four gennins relaxed and had smiles on their faces from the praise.

"Now there is only one problem to solve. You see the exams can only be taken by team of three", said Kakashi at which the four visibly tensed.

"Now don't tense up because of that, I have already solved the issue. One of you will be joining another team for the exams", said Kakashi.

The team looked relaxed but also unsure of who would be leaving the team. Though the dynamics of team 7 was not the best, they were still a team.

"Who?" Sasuke asked.

"That would be Naruto, here this is the team you will be joining for the exams", said Kakashi handing Naruto a paper.

Naruto took the paper and reading it smiled. 'It will be fun o work with them' he thought.

'I am still with Sasuke-kun' thought Sakura as she released a sigh of relief.

Sasuke just spared a curious glance at the blonde while Hitomi looked at him with a smile. 'I intended to learn more about him' she thought a bit upset.

"Now go!" Kakashi said with an eye smile.

"YEAH! LET'S GO!" called out Naruto as he opened the door.

END CHAPTER….

Sorry it took a bit longer but do enjoy.


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